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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26904418">Lil JNPR</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Six02/pseuds/Six02'>Six02</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>RWBY</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>And a way for my brain to get back into writing, F/M, Ren and Nora are Arc Kids now, Short Chapters, They meet Lil Pyrrha, This is mostly for fun</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-05-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-09 01:20:53</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>27,579</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26904418</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Six02/pseuds/Six02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>What if, when Kuroyuri fell, the Arc parents had been near.  In their time of need, both Ren and Nora are rescued from despair and instead of being on their own get brought into the Arc Family.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Jaune Arc &amp; Pyrrha Nikos &amp; Lie Ren &amp; Nora Valkyrie, Jaune Arc/Pyrrha Nikos</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>136</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>137</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This is going to be small and short chapters based around an idea I had, cross posted from my Tumblr.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Jaune wasn’t sure what to make of the scene in front of him.  His parent’s had left Saphron in charge while they were gone on a mission.  Them randomly leaving was something he was used to, but what he didn’t expect was for them to return with two children, both girls(?).  Inside he was crying, he already had 7 sisters, he didn’t need two more.  Though, that thought stopped when he realized they were shaking.  He took a deep breath and shivered, they had to be no older than 8, the same as him.  But they looked so, defeated.  It hurt watching them, so much so that in his own confusion he ran up to both of them and wrapped his lanky arms around them.  </p>
<p>Admittedly they were both taller than him, he was small for his age, but he was sure that he’d grow in time.  Both of them shivered in response to his touch, unsure of why this unknown child suddenly approached them only to wrap them both in his small arms.  He didn’t know himself either if he was being honest.</p>
<p>Turning to his parents he stared quietly waiting for an answer, his mother finally gave way.</p>
<p>“Jaune, these are Nora and Lie.”  She paused, as she noticed the way that Lie responded to his name, “Ren... his name is Ren.”  She corrected herself, noticing that the boy calmed after.</p>
<p>This piqued Jaune’s interest, it was a boy!  Turning to his dad who looked like he wanted to say something.  “Due to... unfortunate circumstances, they’ll be living with us going forward.  They’ll be your new sister and brother, Jaune.”  </p>
<p>Jaune blinked, so he was sorta right, they were going to be siblings, while he wanted to jump for joy about getting a brother.  He decided that it could wait, for some reason he just wanted to hug them.  All he knew was that he wanted to hold them.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Uncertainty</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Nora has never really had a certain day in her life.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Nora never quite knew what certainty was, for as long as she could remember, she’d been on her own.  Then she made it to Kuroyuri village, even then she only really knew uncertainty.  She was sure that she wouldn’t survive the Grimm Attack, she was sure that everyone would die, herself, and the young boy who came to her aid included.</p><p>But, for the first time, uncertainty wasn’t such a bad thing.  It had been unexpected, but two huntsman had shown up, a husband and wife pair, from what she understood at least.  The large horse grimm had long since left, but there had been plenty of smaller ones, the wolves and birds.  They’d been easily dispatched by the duo, thankfully once again uncertainty wasn’t so bad.</p><p>Her and Ren(?), yes that’s what the boy had called himself, as far as she could remember.  They had been picked up by the couple, she was unable to talk, still very unsure of herself.  Ren had done the talking, at least as best as he could given the circumstances.  It was here she learned that his parents, his father had been the one to aid her earlier, had not made it. </p><p>She wasn’t sure what the couple had been feeling or thinking when they were given stoic looks.  Once again, she wasn’t sure if uncertainty was good or not.  Then a few hours later, they found themselves in an unknown place, a large home, or was it a mansion?  She wasn’t sure, she’d never been in a house before.  There the next piece of uncertainty hit her, she was soon wrapped in the embrace of a blonde child, one who looked younger than either her or Ren.</p><p>Once again, this was nice, she felt that uncertainty wasn’t so bad.  It was at this point that Ren finally broke down, unable to hold his semblance any longer.  Nora had no tears to cry though, she was used to losing things, just as she was sure whatever safety she would receive would soon be gone. </p><p>Shortly though, several more arms wrapped themselves around them, 8 women, and two men, the boy from before, the couple who rescued them and 7 girls.  The girls ranged from just a bit older to the boy, to possibly younger, she still wasn’t sure.  For the first time, since she could remember though, she didn’t feel uncertain anymore.  And for once, she was right, several years from now, she would probably call herself an Arc, but for now she was just Nora.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Right then!  This is the next part, I’ll be doing a chapter from Ren’s POV next time, and then move onto the future.  I always imagined that Nora made up her last name because it sounded cool.  So for this she’s simply going to be Nora Arc, while Ren will be Lie Ren Arc.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Alone?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>He's alone Now, though hopefully not for long.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Going to be honest, I just felt like tossing this out before bed.  I really do like this short format.  Next chapter i promise some actual dialogue!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Lie... no, no that’s what his mother called him.  Ren, Ren would do nicely.  Well Ren, he wasn’t sure how to handle what was going on.  The girl in front of him, he had yet to catch her name, she needed support.  His father’s lessons still fresh in his mind, for this other survivor, he couldn’t allow himself to be weak.  </p><p>With that said, the experience was still terrifying, he could still remember the screams, he could still remember his parents last words.  It hurt, it hurt so much; and now he was all alone.  His family was gone, and now there was nothing left for him, so why was he trying?</p><p>It was then that he heard a sniffle, right he wasn’t completely alone.  No, him and the girl in his arms, they were alone together.  He wasn’t sure how much time had passed, the largest of the Grimm had left, and only scavengers remained.  Though even that didn’t last, voices, someone was calling out to him or at least he thought.  His subdued nature prevented him from looking, afraid that he’d drop his facade for even a second.  However, he felt a tug on his sleeves, once again bringing his attention to his new partner.</p><p>He saw her point, her eyes focused on something in the distance.  It was then that he noticed, two adults, he assumed they were a couple.  Both shining in brilliant gold’s and white’s.  The Grimm which remained, well they didn’t remain anymore now.  Once he was sure everything was clear, he took grasp of the girl, who he’d later learn to be Nora.  With as much will power as they could the two slowly made their way towards the couple.  </p><p>Unsure of what this meant for them, the duo found themselves swiftly wrapped in strong secure arms.  He didn’t remember much after that, he was sure they were asked questions, but all of it was a blur.  The next thing he knew, he was in front of a house, no it was definitely a mansion, or something similar.  They must have still been in Sanus, it hadn’t even been a full day since they left what was once his home.</p><p>Even with that thought, he still didn’t cry, his parents wouldn’t want him to.  He alone had to be strong, after all.  The next few minutes were a blur, but even he had to admit he was caught off guard.  A sea of wheat and ocean blue’s was upon him.  Hair of gold, and eye’s as clear as the skies above, there were 8 children all ranging from different ages.  But what really surprised him was there was only one boy, he was small, smaller than either himself or Nora.  He also couldn’t help but notice the children were all color coded it seemed.  Each wearing what appeared to be a different color of the rainbow.</p><p>His attention was soon disrupted however, arms once again wrapped around him and Nora, this time they weren’t strong.  No, in fact they were weak, possibly weaker than his own if he was being honest.  But still, he felt comfort, comfort that even the adults couldn’t bring him.  Then, there were two more pairs, soon 3 and then 10, ten pair of arms wrapped themselves around Nora and himself.  For the first time since the attack on his home had begun, he felt safe, and in this safety he let himself go.  The tears began slowly, but soon they erupted into a waterfall of emotions.  He let himself, sink into the comfort of those around him. </p><p>Their names, Arc, right, he remembered now.  He was going to be adopted, they wouldn’t change his name though they promised.  Instead he was going to be added to theirs as well, he had another family.  He wasn’t sure if he’d ever really feel at home, but for the first time since he lost his family; he didn’t feel so alone.  </p><p>And hey, Lie Ren Arc, it didn’t sound so bad, it almost rolled off the tongue.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Resolution</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Jaune isn't the only one to find resolve.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I realize I'm slowly making them longer and longer.  Though that's mostly because I'm enjoying writing them, and they're kind of just coming at spur of the moment situations I suppose!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Resolution<br/>
It had been a week already, and still, they’d hardly gotten a word out of Nora nor Ren.  Jaune was actually beginning to wonder if they couldn’t speak, though even he had to admit that was silly.  He wasn’t the most perceptive person when it came to feelings, okay he was pretty dense, growing up with a lot of sisters did that to a guy.  But, even he could tell something was wrong, his parents still hadn’t told him what had happened, though they had apparently mentioned it to Rouge and Saphron if their gentle care of the new duo was anything to go by.</p><p>Still, Jaune knew it wasn’t his place to pry, instead he opted for a simple approach. He would often times sit near them, not next to them, no he’d make sure to give them space.  He noticed that when anyone but his parents approached originally they’d flinch, so he studied how close he could get.  To his amazement though, he was able to get just a bit closer each day, and soon he was sure they’d let him sit next to them.</p><p>The two had been stationed in his room, since he was originally the only boy he thankfully had a room to himself.  Which allotted him the most space, and room for another bed.  His parents had no problems letting the two sleep together, they recognized that they needed one another.  </p><p>Slowly; Jaune closed the door to his room, it was always around this time of night when the two would break down.  The strong facade they put up no longer able to hold up as weariness began to take hold.  He slowly made his way to the dining room, however he stopped once he heard hushed voices.</p><p>His father Charles spoke first, “I think we need to train them.”  That was a surprise.</p><p>Though Jaune didn’t know the context, he was pretty sure he could piece together what they were talking about.  While his family had originally been a family of Warriors, his parents had opted for peace after their retirement, refusing to train any of their children.  It wasn’t what they wanted, they didn’t want their children to risk their lives in this dangerous world.  Jaune himself, had taken issue with this, he wanted to be a hero!  He wanted to be the one to save the damsel in distress, the hero who was cheered by the masses.  </p><p>“I... I don’t know, I’m just so scared.  It’s dangerous out there, I just don’t want them to get hurt.”  His mother Jeanne was the next to speak.  Her voice was ragged, and desperate.  They must’ve been having this conversation for a while now.  </p><p>“I know that, I know we agreed not to train them!  But... you saw what happened to that village!  If... if they had more huntsmen, or more people that could fight it could have been prevented.”  His father paused, his breathe short and from creaking that Jaune could hear, his fist must have been pressed firmly against their wooden table.  “We... we never know what could happen.  What if we’re not here anymore?”  </p><p>This thought, this one thought caused Jaune to seize up.  He couldn’t imagine a world with out his parents, with out his sisters.  </p><p>“I... I look at Ren and Nora, and I can’t help but see our own children.  This world is cruel, it’s hateful.  Maybe we were wrong, we wont’ always be here after all.”  He paused again, Jaune could hear heavy breathing.</p><p>“Yes...”  His mother’s tone was morbid, she must have come to a horrible conclusion.  “I refuse to put our children through that.  We’ll start...”  She paused once more, “Ren and Nora too... they only have us now.  Ren lost his family, and gods knows what happened to Nora’s or if she even had one to start with.”</p><p>Okay, so once again, Jaune was dense, but even he could piece together what had happened.  His right hand clutched his chest, his heart beat becoming rapid.  He was already in terrible pain imagining something happening to his family, but Ren and Nora, they DID lose theirs.  </p><p>He dropped all forms of subtlety, turning around he dashed back, he could barely make out the startled sounds of his parents as he made his way into his room. </p><p>There they were, still crying and huddled together, too caught in their grief to notice Jaune close the door behind him.  Slowly he approached them, his presence still unknown to them.  As he reached the bed, they began to shift, though this time they didn’t flinch away.  He took this opportunity to gently wrap his arms around them, as he did the first time they met.</p><p>He could feel them flinch underneath his touch, but they didn’t make any effort to move away.  </p><p>What was wrong with him?  He wanted to be some kind of hero, some kind of glory hog?  No that wasn’t what he needed to be, he’d be a hero, but not all heroes needed fame.  No he’d protect those around him, he refused to let Nora and Ren go through whatever it was they went through again.  He refused to put his parents through that, his sisters, he would protect everyone in his reach.  He would defend those that needed it, he’d be a shield.  </p><p>Soon, he began to tear up, though oddly the tears which flowed from Ren and Nora stopped. “I promise... I promise I’ll be here for both you.  I’ll protect you.”  </p><p>And then, for the first time since they had arrived, Jaune heard them speak, their voices low.</p><p>“Thank you.”</p><p>And with that, the trio began to doze off to sleep, ya, he’d protect them.  They were family now.</p><p>Unbeknownst to them, the Arc parents watched silently from the doorway.  Soft smiles on their faces, they too would do what it takes to protect their children.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. A not So Lonely Legacy</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>It's time to take a small peak at our resident Spartan.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I have to say, I really like the short format I'm doing.  Whenever inspiration hits me I just write it, and I don't' feel like I'm obligated on it.  This is way easier on me than I thought it'd be.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>In the mean time, in the backyard of an inconspicuous house in Argus.  A young girl, with hair as vibrant as a roaring fire, and eyes so beautiful that they put any emerald to shame, stood firm.  A shield in one hand, a javelin in the other, before her a mountain of a man.  His hair as vibrant as her own and his eyes, while faded still shown with determination.  </p><p>“We’ll begin now, are you ready?”  His voice, powerful like a storm bellowing through a canyon.  </p><p>The only response he received was a nod.  What happened next was a series of practiced moves, all excecated with precision that came with practice.  Her body shifted forward, and in an instant she was already upon the large man.  His body however, remained stationary, her right arm struck forward.  Jabbing at the core of his being, hoping to strike him off balance.  </p><p>However, her hopes were dashed, when her thrust was parried, the wooden blade shifted to her left causing her to fall off balance.  On the opposing side, a wooden sword slide down the length of the javelin, striking her with enough force to cause her to stumble backwards, but not enough to cause any serious damage.</p><p>There was a moment of pause, as she managed to stop her tumble, her breath ragged, this was the 10th time they’d done the same steps.  This was the best she’d done so far, every other time she would have fallen flat on her butt.  For what felt like an eternity she stared at the man, emeralds reflecting against one another.</p><p>Finally, it was he that broke the excruciating silence.  “WELL DONE MY DAUGHTER!”  A joyous laughter echoed from his belly to the world around, crushing the silence.  </p><p>A soft smile crept upon the young girls lips, and a sigh of relief escaped her mouth.  “Thank you father.”  </p><p>The giant of a man paused, his smile faltered as he stared down upon his daughter.  Gently he walked forward and wrapped her in a hug.  For as long as he could remember, his daughter had always been polite, not one to wear her emotions on her sleeves.  This had, unfortunately caused issue with the other children.  They’d seen her as too stoic, too concentrated on improving, she had found it difficult to make friends.</p><p>Though he understood his daughter, he cherished her after all, she just was unsure of herself.  There admittedly would be no child her age that could compete with her abilities and athleticism, but when it came to matters of the heart and emotions she was lost.  Both himself, and his wife tried their best to support her, and rather than forcer her into something she’d hate, they chose to train her.  She loved the thrill of the fight, and moving her body, so they let her.</p><p>“I love you, Pyrrha.”  He said warmly, a gentle smile on his face as he embraced his daughter, who returned the embrace in full force.  </p><p>“I love you too... dad.”  </p><p>He smiled, she was a young woman after all, he was sure one day she’d find people that would understand and love her for who she was.  Till then, he’d continue training her, continuing being her dad, her confidant.  Him and his wife would always love their daughter.</p><p>“Soon, I’m sure you’ll find people who will care for you.  Those brats out there?  They mean nothing, okay?”</p><p>Tears formed on the sides of her eyes, she was lonely after all, she wanted to make friends but she just didn’t know how.  “I hope you’re right.”</p><p>“I know I am, and they’ll be wonderful, just you watch.”</p><p>___________________________________________________</p><p>Back at the Arc household, it had been a few weeks since Ren and Nora had shown up.</p><p>The duo had begun to settle in, today was training day and everyone was getting ready when suddenly Jaune, Nora, and Ren all sneezed simultaneously. </p><p>“What are you three doing!?  Training’s going to start, lets go!”  The echoed voices of Indy and Goa, the twin sisters of the Arc house hold, caused the trio to break from their strange sense of yearning.</p><p>“That was weird!  Right, right well let’s go Jauney, Renny.”  Nora said, a small smile on her face, as she dragged a large wooden Mallet.  </p><p>Both Ren and Jaune gave one another a look, and shrugged.  Today was the day their future started after all.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. A Good Start</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Nora's never had a family, but now that she does, she'd never have it any other way.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I'm REALLY enjoying this series, if the random updates aren't an obvious response.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Things were going well, yeah; they were definitely going well.  </p><p>Sucking in a breath Nora stared blankly at the training dummies in front of them.  Her and Ren, that was the boys name ya, they had been here for a few weeks now.  It took some time, but she was starting to get comfortable, it was a first honestly.  </p><p>She’d never been able to stay still for this long before, not with out something trying to eat her anyways.  But this, this feeling of having an anchor, it felt nice.  The Arc’s, they were nice, yeah they were really nice.  It was surprisingly, how Nora had so much more family than she ever imagined.  She had two older sisters, two older brothers, and a gaggle of younger sisters and two doting parents.  It was way more than she had ever expected to have.</p><p>Verte, the sister just slightly younger than her, she was adventurous, a tomboy if you will.  If there was something to climb in her way, you could bet she’d climb it. Bleue, she was studious, always in her books, at least Nora thought she was studying.  Sometimes she saw a glimmer of mischief behind her large glasses, and Nora wasn’t really sure she wanted to know.  The Twins, Indy and Goa, they were troublesome and energetic, she couldn’t help but feel her heart warm.  Then came the youngest, Violette, she was a gentle soul quite possibly the most level headed of all her new found sisters.  </p><p>It was overwhelming as it was, and that was only counting all her new little sisters.  Her two elder sisters were definitely nice though, Rouge was incredibly motherly, probably because she was quite a bit older than the rest of them.  Where as Nora, Ren, and Jaune were all eight, Rouge was bordering on 16, nearly twice their age.  If Mama Arc wasn’t there, you could bet that it was up to Rouge to take care of all of them.  Next to her was Saphron, who was only 4 years their elder, she was incredibly sweet.  And from what Nora could tell was more likely to let the others get away with nearly anything, if only because she seemed to be just as mischievous.</p><p>Now, there were her brothers, it as a good thing she realized they were both boys, because well she almost mistook both of them for girls.  Jaune was small, really small, if she hadn’t been told that he was also 8, well she wouldn’t have realized he as the third eldest child.  And then there was Ren, he wasn’t originally an Arc much like herself.  Where as Nora began to talk more, Ren hardly said anything, but that didn’t make him dismissive or rebellious.  No he seemed to go along with whatever Hijinks the others had decided were necessary.  And it was slight, but she noticed a smile every now and then, which was always better than any tears.</p><p>Nora really liked Ren and Jaune, now don’t get her wrong, she loved everyone, mama and papa Arc especially, but no she really really liked?  No Loved, that was more like it, she loved Ren and Jaune.  They were a security blanket, and she felt safe.  Ren and her had gone through the same thing, and Jaune?  He had been the first to extend himself to them.  He was patient, they all were, but he especially so.  She loved them both dearly, and while she was still terrified, she couldn’t have hoped for a better situation.  This was her new family, and she wouldn’t have it any other way.</p><p>Which was why, when Mr and Ms, no no that’s too informal.  When Mama and Papa Arc offered to help train them, she took it.  All of them had their Aura’s unlocked, it seemed that what happened at Kuroyuri struck a cord with everyone.  </p><p>Grabbing the makeshift mallet in her hand, it reminded her of the Toy Ren had promised handed her when they had met a second time.  She made her way out, though pausing once her, Ren, and Jaune all had a simultaneous sneeze.  That was odd, wonder if someone was talking about them.</p><p>Well either way, she was going to do this, she would be strong.  No one would take away her happy place, or her name isn’t Nora Arc.  “Alright!  Let’s do this boys!”  She said with a smile, a real smile, it was time to have a good start.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Small Victories</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Sometimes the Small Victories matter.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Ren didn’t know what to expect when the Arc’s had told them they would start to train them.  But whatever he thought would happen, well that was blown out of the water.  It had already been a week since they started training, and he had to admit it was seriously draining.  While the Arc Parent’s were incredibly loving outside of the battlefield, it seemed that during training, this didn’t crossover.  Ren gulped as he barely dodged another rubber ball thrown his way.  One may ask, why avoid a rubber ball, what’s so bad about getting hit by that?  Well when that rubber ball was thrown with enough force to knock you flat on the ground, Aura be damned, well that was pretty scary.</p><p>Though he could tell, they were definitely holding back, none of the children had been hurt.  And when it seemed that their Aura was going to break, which he had know idea how the Arc parents knew, they would stop.  From there, they were taught how to control their aura, to bring it back from the cusp of empty.  </p><p>Swish, Ren was knocked out of his inner thoughts as another ball came incredibly close to pinging him in the face.  His eyes now focused on Mrs. Arc, he drew back on his bow, it was a small bow meant for use by children for practice purposes.  It seems, that during the chaos, the Arc parent’s had recovered his father’s weapon.  </p><p>Ren cried when they had returned it to him, repaired even, but he knew what he had to do.  He’d honor his parents, and so he took up the knife and bow.  Once again losing focus, it seemed that the Arc Parent’s were keenly aware when ones concentration was off.  He found a ball coming towards him, this one too fast to avoid.  Thankfully he didn’t have to, it was Jaune who came to his rescue.  His form was sloppy, but he had been a great boon to all of the Arc children.  </p><p>He had been given a wooden sword and shield, apparently a mock up of their familial weapon.  What had been of interest to his parents, and his sisters apparently was that he had made explicit use of the shield.  While he didn’t completely forgo the blade, using it sometimes in his attacks, Ren had found that he used the shield quite a bit in both defense and offense.  </p><p>Well, with Jaune now in the way, though getting bowled over regardless, Ren was free to take a shot.  Pulling on the makeshift arrow he let loose, the arrow took flight, and for once it looked like he had aimed it correctly.  They had drilled in him the ability to move and shoot, which he had to admit was incredibly difficult.  </p><p>Though, his hopes were dashed when Mr. Arc tossed a ball that demolished the arrow, now with Jaune on the ground, and himself caught in a fluster he knew he was in trouble.  </p><p>“Not on my watch!”  Both Boys were taken back, as Nora this time, jumped in front of them.  With a mighty golf swing, she met the ball on the other end of her wooden mallet, sending it veering back at Mrs. Arc who had been distracted by the Twins and Saphron.  The yard was filled with silence as the ball loudly clunked against the woman’s head.  She didn’t even flinch though, and that in itself was frightening.  Of the two Arc’s, Ren could say that Jaune took after his mother, the woman was basically a mountain of defense.</p><p>What made it really scary was that, well everyone had soon learned, Nora was incredibly strong.  Stronger than most adults even, it was insane!  Both Jaune and Ren had gained a natural reflex to avoid her bear hugs.  </p><p>Either way, back to the action, everyone stared silently watching as neither Mr.Arc nor Mrs. Arc made any movements, until both of them broke out into a boisterous laughter.  </p><p>Soon, the Arc sisters started to cheer, and finally it hit the trio.  They finally hit one of them, in this massive 10 vs 2 they finally landed a blow!  Realistically it didn’t do anything, but it was the small victories that mattered.</p><p>Ren, besides himself was the first of the trio to break the silence amongst them.  He if he was being honest, was the least emotive and responsive of the three, he was sure that everyone had issues with it.  Or at least he originally thought, no everyone was just patient and wanted him to move on his own time.</p><p>Well he supposed that time was now, in a rather uncharacteristic moment he rushed forward.  Swooping both Jaune and Nora into his arms he couldn’t help but cheer.</p><p>“We did it!  We did it!”  Tears, this time tears of joy, were now dripping from his eyes.  An actual smile plastered on his face as he held both of them close, too lost in their own stupor to respond.</p><p>If he had been a bit more attentive he would have noticed the small shade of pink on Nora’s face as she began to break from her own little world.</p><p>Though it was Jaune who reacted next, bringing his arms around the two others he hugged back.  “We did!  We actually got them!  Good job guys!”   His smile was as bright as the sun, possibly mirroring Ren’s own.</p><p>Nora was next, as she started to lose the small blush, and instead a massive grin formed.  “Ya!  We’re the best!”</p><p>Ren couldn’t help himself, they... they weren’t his family, at least.</p><p>His thoughts were broken, as the trio soon found themselves at the bottom of a 10 person dog pile.</p><p>They weren’t his family, at least not yet, but he was sure that they would be soon.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Self Worth</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Jaune's always been unpopular, and he's never really had friends.  He had a friend one time, but that didn't go well.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I'm not a fan of bullying scenes so not sure how I did on this one.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Jaune was never a popular kid, okay maybe that’s an understatement.  He was never liked, the only friends he had, well could you really call sisters friends?  He did at least, it was all he really had anyways.  But now, now was different, he had Ren and Nora, and although they WERE his brother and sister, well he was just happy to have them.</p><p>It had already been a few weeks since they started training, and this was the first time that Nora and Ren had been willing to leave the house.   Jaune thought it was a good idea to finally show Ren and Nora around.  Though he hoped, that they’d be able to avoid running into any of the other kids.  He didn’t need them to know how uncool he was.  Every so often, he’d find himself searching from side to side, looking and paying attention for any one possibly seeing him.</p><p>Ren, being Ren had noticed this, when Jaune felt a hand on his shoulder he jumped up in surprise.  Causing Ren and Nora to give him looks of curiosity, but also a hint of worry.</p><p>“Is everything okay Jauney?”  The worry in Nora’s voice was obvious, and Jaune hated it, they had just started warming up and he was making things worse.</p><p>“Yeah, ya I’m fine Nora, sorry for worrying you. I just...”  Before he could finish though, a voice that resembling nails on a chalkboard invaded their hearing.</p><p>“Well if it ain’t little J!”  The noise, or voice rather, came from a rather large child.  If one didn’t know better one would think he was a tiny Ursa.  He was tall, easily twice as tall as Jaune, and his arms were some how larger as well.  And surrounding him, were a bunch of other children, not quite as tall as him.</p><p>Nora glanced over towards her new brother once she realized that he had started to shake.  She didn’t like this, she didn’t like this at all.  Whoever this punk was, he was upsetting Jaune.  </p><p>“Whatcha doing out here pip-squeak, I thought I told ya not to show your face around here.”  His attention however, was soon taken off of Jaune, and onto the newcomers.  “The heck are you two looking at?  Never seen ya brats around here.”  </p><p>Nora and Ren decided to ignore him, and instead made their way over to Jaune.  “You alright?”  Ren’s soothing voice reached his ears, as his stupor came undone.  </p><p>Jaune stared at his siblings and nodded, still unable to say anything.  Whatever, it was that had happened before, it clearly bothered Jaune.  </p><p>“Aww, is the baby going to cry?  Do I need to put ya back in the locker, want to spend another night by yourself?  Maybe it’ll help you grow a backbone!  Don’t worry, this time we won’t have to fool ya with a fake love letter.”  He paused and smiled, “Though I’d bet that Flanna would write another, just to mess with ya.”  The laugh that followed, could be described as a snort and a chortle all at once.  “Maybe we’ll give ya another shower to boot!”  </p><p>This caused Jaune to shiver, he remembered that day. It was the day that he was betrayed by what would equate to a child hood friend.  She had apparently put a love letter in his desk, and he would admit he was excited.  Turned out it was a trap.  They had dumped dirty mop water on him when he entered the school shed, he could still remember their laughter, he could remember her laughter!  He had gotten sick for two weeks, while the kids involved had gotten suspended, this hadn’t sated his parents and they pulled him from school.  </p><p>The bully was about to say something else, when he noticed Nora and Ren giving him rather ugly looks, and if looks could kill... “What, you punks got a problem with me?” </p><p>“I’m going to break your legs... I’m going to break them so badly, you’ll never walk again.”  At this, the bullies began to laugh, Nora was about to approach them but Jaune grabbed her hand.  </p><p>“It’s not worth it Nora, let’s just go... please?”  He stared at Nora and Ren, the two of them ended up relenting.  As the three of them were starting to walk away, however this angered Jaune’s tormenter.  </p><p>With out warning he picked up a rock at his feet and threw it at Ren.  This honestly wouldn’t have been an issue, and Ren was getting ready to dodge it.  But he was suddenly pulled away by Jaune, as instincts took over, he used his head to crush the rock.  </p><p>This caused the everyone to pause, even Nora and Ren.  Who by all accounts shouldn’t have been surprised, they had been training with Jaune after all.  The bullies froze when Jaune eyed them.  “Don’t... don’t you EVER, think about hitting them!  Do you understand?”  He said as he walked towards them, his hand raised as he was about to hit them when he was suddenly stopped by Nora and Ren.</p><p>Their hands were now on his arms, turning back to them the looks of concern caused him to pause and stop.  Releasing a breath, he turned back, right right he could have killed them he had Aura now. “Leave us alone.”  When they were far enough, for the first time since they met Jaune, he gave out.  His back now against a tree, tears began to form.  He had obviously been scared, this entire time.</p><p>“Jaune?”  He felt arms wrap around him as Ren pulled him into a tight hug, soon followed by Nora.</p><p>“We’re here with you okay?.”  Nora’s voice was soft and full of concern.</p><p>Ren came next, “You’ve been there for us, so we’ll be there for you too.”  </p><p>Silence soon permeated as Jaune’s body continued to shiver alone, he had hoped to forget all of those bad memories.  Finally though, he felt better about himself, to Ren and Nora, he wasn’t worthless.  He meant something, he had self worth.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>So, one of the worst things I feel like you can do to a person is betraying their trust.  Nothing like payback though.</p><p>So I can gaurantee you that those guys will not show up in the future!  Flanna may, but that’s for future Pyr to handle.</p><p>Also I’m thinking of doing a Monster Au, where a lone Dulluhan Jaune raises a human child.  Along the way he meets an Orc and Elf duo, and a flame haired Centaur, though Pyrrha’s honestly pending.</p><p>What do you guys think on Pyr?  Also, should I put this on FF?  I'm still unsure.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Fury</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Don't let it be said that Nora doesn't think about revenge.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>So, after the recent experience that the trio had gone through, Nora and Ren had learned that apparently Jaune wasn’t popular.  Nora had wondered originally why he never seemed excited about going out.  She had realized pretty early on that, unless he went out with one of his sisters or the family, he basically didn’t leave the property.  This had caused alarm to both Ren and Nora, they hadn’t left because, they had been uncomfortable.</p><p>But now, now it didn’t make her uncomfortable, no it made her furious. She couldn’t believe that people would even bully someone as precious as Jaune.  Ren had to use his semblance on her when she first found out why he was home schooled.  It seems that his sisters didn’t take a liking to it either, Saphron had gone out of her way to get back at the bullies.  And his parents, they had definitely taken it up with the school, but had since been rebuked.  </p><p>Nora felt her temper rise everytime she thought about it, and unfortunately, she thought about it a lot.  Jaune had told them it was okay, and that he was fine, he had his family.  He, apparently and thankfully, included them as well.  This however, had the opposite of the desired effect, once again Nora thought; how could someone do that someone as precious as Jaune.  The worst thing wasn’t the bullies, no, the worst was his so called ex-friend.  Nora hadn’t seen her yet, but from what his sisters had told her, she had short red hair, and was rather tall. </p><p>Apparently she had gone into a recent growthspurt, and had decided to leave Jauney behind, in the worst possible way, by humiliating him.  He had apparently harbored a crush on her too, Nora could understand that well.  Her cheeks flared slightly as she thought of her original savior.  No that wasn’t right, it wouldn’t work.  Her thoughts soon flooded back to the witch, as she was now going to refer to her as.  If they ever met she’d do more than just break her legs, no she’d do so much worse.  Before her train of thought could continue, she was taken out of her delusions by a cry for help.</p><p>“Nora!  Nora!  I need to breathe!”  It was Jauney, who was looking awfully blue.</p><p>Oh right... she was hugging him, uh oh.  She looked around to see Verde, Indy, Goa and Ren all keeping their distance from her.  “Woops!  Sorry Jauney!”  She let go shortly after, the smaller boy falling to the ground gasping for air.</p><p>“It’s... it’s okay Nora.”  He said, a soft smile on his face.</p><p>Gosh, he was just too nice, Nora shook her head and bent over helping him up.  Wrapping her arms around him again not wanting to let go again.  Soon, Ren joined in, once he realized it was safe.  Though, a look of concern was on his face as well.</p><p>“Guys... I’m okay.  I... it still hurts, and I’m still afraid.  But... but I’m better now.  Ya... I have you two.”  Jaune said, his small arms wrapping around the duo now as well.  </p><p>Ya, she’d definitely break some legs in the future.  </p><p>The look on Ren’s face seemed to agree, though before they could continue their devious thoughts the holy voice of Mama Arc soon rang through.  </p><p>“Kid’s is breakfast time!  I made pancakes!”  </p><p>And with that, Nora was no longer in the hug pile.  She’d plot her revenge in the future, hell hath no Fury like a sister scorned.  She bet the other Arc sisters would want in as well.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Fear</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Sometimes, bad things happen, but so do good things.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Ren was terrified, this was possibly the second most frightening thing that he’d ever been through.  The only other thing he could remember was the day that he lost his birth parents.  He did his best to still his body as he watched in fear, his semblance in full blast.  His mind even while doing it’s best to still itself, couldn’t help but rush through worst case scenarios, the worst thing?  He could only watch as Nora spasmed on the ground before him.</p><p>The day had been going so well, the weather was great, and there hadn’t been any indication that a thunderstorm would hit.  But, that was just his luck he supposed, well his and Nora’s...  They’d finally been allowed to use real weapons, or at least simplistic metal weapons.  Though he used a bow and a dagger, so he had the last change in his repertoire, curved dull studded arrows and a simplistic dull metal dagger were what he was all he had been allowed to use for now.</p><p>Nora had been the most excited, she’d been given a metal headed hammer, which had been crafted for her small frame.  Everything had been going on like normal, they’d trained till their aura’s had been in the red like usual, and were preparing to concentrate on mental training when the weather took a sudden turn for the worst.  For the few months that he’d known Nora, she’d been the type to love storms, it always made her more excited.  Which had been saying something because of how already excitable she was.</p><p>This time however, things went bad, really bad.  The storm had been on them before they knew it, and before they could pack up, a bolt of lightning from the heavens had hit Nora.  Normally she’d been hurt, but still fine due to her aura, but because they hadn’t been able to practice aura regeneration today they’d all still been low.  And that, that had been enough to put her on the ground. Her body, though unconscious was anything but still.  She convulsed at random intervals, her fingers would twitch, her frame would shiver, and her head would bounce periodically.  It seems that the strike had been enough to put her down.</p><p>Verde had been the first to try to get to her, but she had been stopped by Saphron.  “Stop!  Don’t touch her!”  Verde’s body had stilled at the words, fear taking her over, tears began to form.  Indy, Goa and Violette however began to cry almost instantly.  With out thinking Ren had reached to his little sisters, pulling them into a tight hug much like they had once done to him.  He needed to be strong, he couldn’t use his semblance much longer, and he definitely couldn’t risk passing out here, no he had to be strong for his family.</p><p>Charles and Jeanne, Papa and Mama Arc, they were doing their best to keep everyone calm, while Rouge had already dialed what he assumed to be an ambulance.  Though Ren feared they wouldn’t make it in time, he did his best, he really did but he couldn’t help it.  Tears started to form, he wanted to be a good older brother, but how was he supposed to be when he was losing another family member?  Still he tried, he tried his damndest to hold on, for the little ones at least.</p><p>Though, he noticed that everyone had stopped talking, instead only sobs could be heard.  Specifically sobs coming from Nora’s location, it was Jaune.  Though, it wasn’t Jaune himself that Ren noticed, no it was the fact that he was glowing, his eyes shut as he reached out for Nora but still didn’t touch her.  Soon the silence permeated to even the tears, and the sound of the storm above drowned out as almost everything stilled.  </p><p>Jaune’s white aura began to change, the color soon tinted yellow, no it was gold, gold like the Arches which formed the Arc’s family symbol.  What however really caught everyones attention was the fact that his aura was seeping into Nora.  No one was sure what was happening, not till Nora’s body stilled.  This had the initial effect of frightening everyone, though as everyone stilled their breathing they noticed Nora’s picked up.  Soon her eyes began to flutter open.</p><p>“What... what happened?”  She was still dazed, this much was obvious.  The first to respond to her sudden awakening?  It was the boy next to her.</p><p>“You’re okay!”  Jaune’s voice was the trigger everyone needed to come out of their stupor.  Ren slowly let go of his sisters as he stared and started to walk towards Nora and Jaune.  Though before anyone could get closer a yelp of pain and surprised fluttered about.</p><p>Jaune, in his excitement had attempted to hug Nora, only for him to suddenly be shocked and thrown back.  Thankfully, unlike Nora prior his aura took majority of the blow and he could only blink in stunned silence.  It was then that all eyes fell on Nora, her body was coursing with a blue hued static.  Her eyes sparked to life, as the soft turquoise flashed an electric blue.  Down her body, what appeared to be marks, veins which spread from her neck down beneath her clothes and out to the tips of her fingers through her arms began to spark.  Electricity seemed to be literally coursing through her veins, or at the very least through the lightning burns which had formed since she had been struck.</p><p>“Whoa!  Whats... what’s going on?!”  She asked, half in fear and half in excitement.</p><p>It was Papa Arc that spoke first, “Well I’ll be... I think my heart may stop but damned if I won’t accept it.  Seems like you and Jaune both unlocked your semblances.”</p><p>Both children blinked and stared at him, “SEMBLANCES?!”  Both of them echoed as they stared at themselves.  Jaune’s body still glowing brightly, unsure of how to turn it off, while Nora’s coursed with the power of lightning.  </p><p>“Okay... okay but uh how do we turn it off?”  Jaune’s timid voice asked, panic clear in his rushed tone.  </p><p>It was surprisingly Ren that answered, “Breathe... both of you stay calm and think of nothing...”  He had been playing with his semblance for a while, and he remembered what happened when he had first unlocked it helping Nora.  </p><p>As the siblings looked at him, they both nodded, they trusted Ren.  Their breathing slowed and soon the glowing stopped.  Nora’s was the first to calm down, the static began to recede allowing a clear view of the new veiny burns which spread through out her body.  It was interesting, the way that they stretched and spread, one could think they were ugly, but on Nora?  Ren couldn’t help but think that it accentuated her usual charm.</p><p>Charm?  Where did that come from?  Shaking his head he watched as she stared blankly at her arms.  No one knew how she’d act, but in Nora’s typical fashion she quickly jumped up and threw her arms into the sky.  “THIS IS AWESOME!”</p><p>She smiled brightly, beaming in great joy.  “These look so cool!  And I didn’t even have to get a tattoo!”  Then, she did something unexpected, she walked towards a tree, drew her arm back and then punched it.  This caused everyone to look in shock, last they remembered she had nearly no aura and the lightning should have taken it out.  What happened next should have been a scream of pain, instead her fist crashed into the tree, slamming into it and driving a whole all the way through.  Next, a flash of sparks splintered from her fist and carved their way into the tree, almost lightning it in flames, almost.  </p><p>“THAT IS AWESOME!  I FEEL LIKE I COULD WRESTLE An URSA!”  </p><p>“Please don’t!”  Came Saphron’s worried voice as she ran up to Nora, pausing ever so slightly before touching her to make sure it was safe.  Once she wasn’t blown away, she proceeded to wrap Nora into a tight hug.  “We don’t need another near death scare just yet.”  </p><p>She was soon joined by the younger girls all who ran up to and proceeded to pin Nora to the ground in a pile of hugs.  Ren himself, though, decided to walk to Jaune.  </p><p>“How are you feeling?”  </p><p>Jaune’s eyes darted from the pile to Ren, he was clearly in shock, everything was happening rather fast and he wasn’t sure if he could handle it.  “I... I don’t know honestly.  I FEEL, great... but I don’t feel good... that doesn’t make sense.”  He shook his head as he stared down, his hands flashing one more time.</p><p>Ren simply nodded, “No... NO I understand.”  Soon Ren found his arms around Jaune, holding him tightly, tears began to flow freely.  “I know I don’t need to... but thank you.”  </p><p>Jaune simply responded by hugging Ren, soon Rouge and their parents began to hug them.  </p><p>“Well... this has been an exciting day... we’ll, we’ll have to figure out what your semblances are later, for now let’s rest.”  Jeanne, Mama Arc, stated as she let go of her children.  </p><p>Ren followed her gaze and noticed that the rain had gone.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>So for those of you curious, Nora’s semblance is slightly altered due to being unlocked via Jaune’s semblance.  Her body will generate electricity, making her a stun gun, while being able to absorb additional electricity to make it stronger as well as amp her own strengths.  Jaune’s will largely stay the same, but he’ll definitely have more control over it, he’s going to have fun combinations with Ren and Nora in the future for different things mind you.  </p><p>Fun fact Nora now has lightning burns, they’re cool looking, but I wouldn’t recommend trying to get some yourself...</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Decisions</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Sometimes we make decisions we regret, and sometimes we keep on making those.  Sometimes we take fate too seriously...</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>So I may or may not be throwing all the negative things I see people put on arkos, on Flanna, just more light hearted cause they're kids and I don't really want that to be a main theme.</p><p>Also sorry for the lack of updates, I've been in a bad mental place recently, and my good keyboard died so typing is kind of annoying.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Right, the choices she made, it was right, right?  She was popular, she had everyone at her beck and call, and she was happy.  She was happy… at least she thought she was.  Lime green eyes glanced to the trio in the distance, a boy whose head was blacker than knight, a streak of pink and yellow swirled down a long strand of hair.  A girl, shorter than the boy, her hair bright orange, much like the morning sun, a grin upon her face and energy that could conquer the world.  these two were a new addition to the society in their quiet little town.</p><p>These two had been, immune, to her allure.  She had tried to approach them once, though never again.  The girl, she nearly launched herself at her, she was vicious, nearly tearing at her lustrous rust colored hair.  The boy did nothing to stop her, no it was the third member of their party.  The second boy hadn’t even looked her in the eyes, he paid her no attention, a small scrunch of pain.  This bothered her, she couldn’t have that, though a small part of her understood why.  An even smaller part of her felt pain, she remembered his eyes, his soft sapphire orbs.</p><p>They used to look at her lovingly, like she was the only one that mattered.  She supposed, she used to be the only one that mattered to him.  He had been friendless, though kind, she had needed help one day and he offered it, chasing off a dog, being her hero for a time.  He had been her best friend once upon a time, and if she was being honest, which she rarely ever was, her first crush.  But, as they got older, she realized that it just wouldn’t do, he wasn’t one of the crowd.  She couldn’t make other friends because of him, people avoided her because of him, so she had to cut him loose.  </p><p>So cut him loose she did, it had been messy, his sisters had gotten involved and he stopped coming to school.  She had sent him an invitation, a confessional letter if you will.  When he arrived though, he was jumped, the boys, all bigger than he; pushed him around and tormented him.  They laughed, and told him what had happened, it was all a prank.  At first he didn’t believe it, how could he?  His best friend would never turn on him like that, but it was all true.  She showed herself, and gave a small peck to the largest of his bullies, it was mean and a part of her own heart broke that day.  The way he looked at her, it was like he broke a little.  </p><p>He stopped responding to the bullying and just got quiet, she hated herself, for a few days at least.  Soon it wore off, and she was popular now, it seemed that the prank had been a huge hit, captured on scrolls and passed around the school.  Though there was one problem, his sisters, they were always over protective, and soon the rabble found themselves hushing about.  She herself had managed to avoid any beating, instead all she received was a few ‘I’m just disappointed’ or ‘I’ll get you one day.’  These, these terrified her, and made her feel worse.  </p><p>But her decisions had already been made, and she had let the die fall where they must.  It was her fate after all, the boy would go nowhere, and she’d go everywhere.  At least that’s what she thought, so why did it bother her so much to see him again.  A few months later, and he seemed completely over her, playing with his new friends, friends that were far more loyal than any she had now.  Decisions had been made and it was then that she realized that decisions would have to stand.</p><p>It didn’t matter, she was going to be someone, and that was her decision.  She gave up a future that, maybe she would have enjoyed, but surely she’d find a man or woman better than he, and he would never find anyone.  She made the right decision, she was sure of it.  Her green orbs glanced back to her current boyfriend, he was droll, and for some reason afraid of the boy.  She hadn’t heard the details, but that didn’t matter, she would have fun for now, she had plenty of time to grow up and so did he she thought.</p><p>___________________________________________________________</p><p>In Mistral, a lone girl sat, her shimmering emerald eyes glistened in the silver light of the moon.  Her hair of crimson flames flittered in the wind, she looked at the broken moon above and prayed, prayed that one day she would meet friends.  One day she would meet someone who would love her, for her, she didn’t want to be alone anymore.  She hoped that, that would change, only two more years, two more years and she’d go to Sanctum.  Maybe someone there wouldn’t be afraid of her.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Unfair</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Life's unfair, Jaune knows this, Ren Knows, this hell Nora knows this.  But their big sister?  She really doesn't know that.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>So sorry in advanced, not great at fights.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Jaune found that he quite liked the blue sky above he had, of course, had the time to become intimately familiar with it.  Once again, he found himself in a small crater, his back against the ground.  There was one thing he had learned quite early in life, life wasn’t fair.  He got that, he understood that at a fundamental level.  He wasn’t the best fighter in his family.  Hell he wasn’t even the best fighter amongst his little trio, he was definitely the sturdiest, but that belonged to Nora.  Honestly?  He was perfectly okay with that, however, what he wasn’t okay was just how infuriatingly good his eldest sister was.  </p><p>They all started at the same damn time, by all means, she should have been the worst fighter in the family.  She hadn’t started till she was 16, she was 21 now, so she had a late start.  But NO, no she had to take to combat so infuriatingly well that she was already better than their dang parents.  That was honestly upsetting, normally Jaune didn’t have these thoughts.  But when he was currently in a 3 v 1, himself, his brother, and Nora against their unarmed sister, and were still losing?  Well that couldn’t help but stir some rather negative emotions.</p><p>Before he could even get up though, he heard a loud thud to his left, taking a peak he found himself joined by his brother Lie.  In the distance another loud crash, the crackling of lightning, and the thudding of thunder resounded around them.  Nora was going all out, she really wanted to win this time, he couldn’t blame her.  </p><p>Turning to his brother he couldn’t help but voice his opinion, “Hey Lie.”</p><p>“Yes Jaune?”  Was the muffled reply he received, from the currently face down Lie Ren Arc.</p><p>“Why are the women in our life so terrifying?”  He couldn’t help but let out a small whimper at that.</p><p>“It was bound to happen… we are heavily outnumbered 3 to 9.”  Lie was slowly trying to get up, Jaune himself however; hadn’t bothered yet, he felt like playing dead for a little longer.</p><p>“Ya but like… Rouge is terrifying, and Nora isn’t that far behind.”  This time instead of a thud, a rather loud boom and crack trembled towards them, both brothers were shifted back slightly by this one.  </p><p>Lie, was about to answer, but their little conversation was soon interrupted by Nora.  “LIE REN ARC, JAUNE ARC!  You both better be unconscious, or I swear to the brother’s I’m going to make sure you are!”  This caused the both of them to shiver a little bit, that wasn’t something they needed.  “You both best be getting up, your queen demands her assistants!”  </p><p>A sigh escaped both of their lips, “Well then Lie, you heard the Queen.  Looks like the Rook and Bishop are required in the end.”  The only response he got was a grunt of approval, and soon both of them found themselves standing, staring at the carnage that was rott by their elder sister and Nora.</p><p>It’d been 4 years since Jaune had unlocked his semblance, and as things turned out, it wasn’t super unique.  As time went on, all of his sisters had unlocked some form of Aura control, he could boost aura of himself and others, which had semblance boosting properties too, was really neat, a nice all around stat boost.  Saph didn’t fight, she hadn’t cared for it, and had recently moved to Argus, to live with her new girlfriend, she said it was for studying abroad but he knew better.  Terra was a sweet girl honestly, he supposed they’d be getting another sister soon.  </p><p>His other sisters had varying degrees, Verte could harden her aura allowing her to hit incredibly hard and making her far more dense than she should be. Bleue could enhance her brain functions with Aura, she was able to see things slower, and he swore she had eyes in the back of her head.  The twins were fast, like really fast, and if they were together they were even faster; their aura was concentrated on their legs it seemed.  Little Viollete had a fun one, she was able to actually spread out her aura, it hampered anything she wanted to, if something was falling she could slow it down because she could feel it, she was able to cover the entire house.  Needless to say they were all rather scary, but no Rouge was the most terrifying of allf.</p><p>She could do all of the above, even his own trick, it was a little upsetting honestly.  The smallest relief was that she was unable to compete in a one on one aspect of their abilities.  If his boost was a 4 times boost, hers was only a 50 percent, whereas Viollete could cover the house, Rouge could only cover a small area around her body.  Where as Bleue could essentially see everything, Rouge was only able to view what was in front of her.  Where Verte could make her entire body super dense, Rogue was only able to harden two places at once.  Where the twins were a blur, Rouge was just really fast, you could still follow her but it was hard. </p><p>She wasn’t the best in any one thing, but what was scary was how good at fighting she was, she didn't’ need to be the best in any single aspect, because her combat insight was so dang terrifying that she was able to flawlessly combine all of their abilities.  Didn’t help that she was the third best at Aura control, after Lie and himself.  </p><p>His thoughts, however, where soon ended when he felt his skin begin to prickle, and his entire body tensed.  He was using Bleue’s vision, she had positioned herself so that she could watch all three of them.  The only members of their family that could feel when they were being watched, were Lie, himself, Rouge, and his parents.  On one hand, it wasn’t as oppressive as when Bleue did it, on the other it was much like being stalked by a tiger.  </p><p>Jaune readied his shield as Nora took position next to them.  “WELL Good to see you both up sunshines!  Thanks for making me deal with her by myself, by the way.”  The sarcasm and venom that dripped from her voice caused both the boys to flinch.</p><p>“Right, right sorry, we were just getting our bearings is all.”  Jaune’s nervous reply seemed to have saited Nora’s blood thirst, only slightly.</p><p>“Right… well how are we doing this fearless leader?”  Nora had taken to calling Jaune Fearless leader, he wasn’t sure how he felt about that.  He was anything but fearless, and he still had issues with being seen as the leader of the three.</p><p>“Right, right.  We need to act quick, she’s probably trying to regenerate some of her aura, she had to have dispensed a lot of it during the fight.”  He paused and stared at her, god he hated the way she looked at them, like they were prey ready to be slaughtered.  He placed his hands on Lie and Nora, his aura shined and soon they both found themselves topped off, “Lie, I’m going to need you to block her vision, do you have any fire dust still?”  </p><p>Lie began to rummage through his pack, nodding in confirmation, “Ya I have a bit, should be able to do a few more shots till I have to rely purely on Aura.”  He placed the canister on his bow, he’d been gifted a starter hunter bow which used aura to fire arrows.  While he honestly had the least amount of aura in the family he was the best at controlling it and able to make due with what he had.  He’d also taken to using dust to enhance and circumvent using much at all. </p><p>“Good, Nora, I’m going first.  I’ll try to keep her distracted but, honestly that’s not going to last long.  I’m hoping she’s too lost in her creepy battle lust, that she’ll take a crack at my shield.  If I can blast her away, I’ll need you to attack her from behind.  You should be fast enough now to get behind her.”  </p><p>Nora nodded in response, grabbing her simplistic metal hammer, she had actually only asked for a standard hammer with nothing special when she turned 13.  She was honestly excited about making her own weapon when they got to Sanctum.</p><p>Jaune readied himself, breathing in the increased grip on Crocea Mors.  He had inherited his family weapons.  Well, the sword was the family weapon, the shield not so much.  So when he asked if they could alter it, his parents had no issue with the request.  The shield was bigger, heavier even.  It still shifted to a smaller form and acted as a sheath, but now it contained a dust container, which when activated, released one of 5 dusts.  It was a great counter weapon, and it suited his tanky style quite well.  He was hoping he’d be able to blow Rouge away, though his train of thought was soon cut off.</p><p>“Now now, children shouldn’t keep their elders waiting!”  Well, it looked like Rouge’s patience had worn thin.  She began to make her way towards them at frightening speeds.  </p><p>“Right stick with the plan!”  Jaune moved first, making sure to get in Rouge’s line of sight.  He was hoping to the brother’s that she would go for him.  Thankfully she did, this was also unfortunate.  She was upon him almost instantly, he patiently waited for her to strike, but before she could she found herself moving back as blazing red arrows landed between the two of them.  Soon a violent eruption of flame caused Rouge to back off, this was Jaune’s time.  Pushing himself through the fire he made his way towards her.</p><p>Finding himself inside of her sphere of aura he felt his body slow, the only way to fight it was to flare his own.  Release his aura a bit he found it easier to move, and soon he found her fist coming towards him.  Thankfully she wasn’t in a good position, her feet weren’t touching the ground, which meant that she couldn’t put her weight behind the blow and that was perfectly fine.  He found himself gripping the clutch on his shield, and waited, but the blow never came.  Instead he found that his movement had sped up, but his sisters had halted.  </p><p>She was bloody using it on herself!  That was just stupid, soon he found himself having moved past her.  Her body still in the air, he tried to correct himself but then found the domination of her aura upon him again.  ‘Crap baskets.’  He had let his aura down slightly to try to keep from moving too quickly, but she had waited for that.  Soon he found his world upside down. Her hands had twisted their way into his armor and she had gotten a good grip.  Her feet were now on the ground, “Oh crap.”  Instantly he found himself thrown, she had put her all into it too, which meant there was no dodging for poor Lie, who had been the target.  </p><p>The brothers soon found themselves a tangled mess, as the tree which had broken their trajectory found itself dented.  </p><p>The only thing the two could do now was share their pain, “Ow.”  </p><p>Nora, had tried her best to adhere to the plan, she had snuck around Rouge, and had prepared to attack once she was blown away.  But, nooooo, she had to have that supid broken semblance of hers.  Well, nothing worth doing ever required her to wait.  Sparks began to crack the sky around her, the ground burned at her feet, and with a burst of speed she was off.  The veins which marred her skin glue an iridescent blue, and her eyes sparked to life.  </p><p>She reached Rouge, and hit her with all she had.  Thankfully Rouge had been distracted long enough that her guard had been down, and the blow had been enough to cause her to buckle to her knees. </p><p>Rouge only had the time to raise her arms, as the overhead smash crushed the floor beneath her, her knees buckling, and the stress on her knees caused her entire body to shake.  “Damn Nora!  Taking you head on is just suicide.”  Her tone was chipper, despite the obvious strain, she wasn’t kidding, Nora was crazy strong.  She hoped that Nora never tried anything like this on anyone her own age, hell she realized she was an outlier and hoped she never did this to a human.  </p><p>“But… that’s not the plan.”  </p><p>Nora had been putting her all into the push, that she was slightly off kilter, and Rouge had noticed this, she also had tilted her arms slightly, which allowed for the rest of the blow to fall off and caused Nora to stumble forward.  Soon Nora found herself on the floor, but before she could recover, her left arm was suddenly yanked forward, and her face hit the dirt.  She felt Rouge’s legs grip around her arm and stretch onto her back.  Then the pressure happened, her arm felt like it was being pulled out of it’s socket and ripped backwards.  She felt the increased weight on her back as Rouge concentrated her aura onto her legs and applied pressure.  “Oh damn it!”  Was all Nora could scream out, as pain started to flood her senses.  </p><p>“Alright, are you going to surrender, or do I have to knock you out again!  Your choice Nora!” </p><p>There would have been a time where Nora took that challenge, but that challenge wasn’t worth having to snap her arm back into place, especially with Sanctum class starting up in a week!  </p><p>“Alright alright I surrender!  Lemme go please?”  As soon as she said those words, Rouge let go, and the pressure released.</p><p>“What about you boys?  Wanna go some more?”</p><p>The answer was immediate, “NO!”  Both Jaune and Lie had finally managed to get back up. </p><p>Jaune felt his entire body shaking, “Like I said, terrifying…”  </p><p>Lie only nodded in response.</p><p>Clap, clap, clap.  </p><p>The sound of clapping had caught everyone’s attention, though Nora still chose to lie on the ground for a little longer.  </p><p>“Now that’s what I like to see!  My favorite Nephews and Nieces from my favorite Sister, all showing what they're made of!”</p><p>Jaune smiled brightly at the appearance of his favorite uncle, but then he stopped and cocked an eyebrow.  “Wait, Mom’s your only sister!”  </p><p>The dapper man in front of them, tipped his bowler hat and smiled, “My point still stands Jaune Jaune.  Now aren’t you going to give your Uncle Roman a hug?”  His arms outstretched as Lie, Jaune, and Rouge all ran over.</p><p>Nora was still on the ground, though she soon found a hand helping to lift her up.  A small girl, no larger than her, had begun to assist her, “Thank you Neo.”  Was Nora’s curt reply, with only a nod as a response from the young woman in front of her.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0013"><h2>13. New Positions</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Nora couldn’t help her excitement, it was uncle Roman and Cousin Neo!  She loved them, especially with how much trouble they could get into.  She watched as both Lie and Jaune gave her weary looks.  She knew they were worried but they shouldn’t be!  She couldn’t help herself, constantly bouncing on the balls of her feet a manic grin on her face, her lightning burns shimmering with sparks as her excitement hit its peak.  </p><p>Before she could literally explode though, she felt a hand on her shoulder, turning to her side she noticed it was Rouge.  “It’s okay Nora, breathe.”  The warm smile on her face helped soothe Nora’s nerves as she nodded in response.  Her attention going back to Momma and Roman’s conversation.</p><p>“SO!  Dearest little brother of mine.”  She watched as Roman flinched, Neo who had been standing in between the boys couldn’t help but snicker.  Though that stopped the moment Momma turned back to her, suddenly she stood straight.  Momma had that effect on people, and so did Verde now that she thought about it, man her mom and sisters were scary!</p><p>“Why are you here?”  While her tone was calm, there was a rumbling of judgement in her words, ones that caused the greatest thief in Vale to shrink under her scrutinizing gaze.  </p><p>“Can’t an uncle come see his dearest nephews and niece before they take off to one of those fancy combat schools?”  His question seemed honest enough, though his facade began to break under the scrutinizing gaze of Momma. </p><p>“Yes, I can see most uncles doing that, and I do believe that’s part of the truth, what’s the rest?”  Nora watched as Roman squirmed, reaching for the collar of his suit tugging on it as he swallowed.  </p><p>“Right, I was kind of hoping to… maybe borrow your help?”  Any confidence he still held fell straight down with the looks he gave him.  Even Nora felt that!  And she wasn’t the one it was directed at, she and everyone in the room took a step back making sure to avoid any form of line of sight.  Neo herself had hid behind Jaune and Lie, hoping to use them as some form of barrier.</p><p>Even Rouge took a step back, not quite as far as the rest of them, but she was definitely scared of her mom still, which to be fair wasn’t the worst thing to be afraid of.  </p><p>“Why?”  Once again Roman squirmed, he tried to get Neo’s help but she had long since closed her eyes, avoiding any kind of eye contact with her adoptive father.</p><p>“Right well you see, I kind of need help with this heist I got going on, and I thought, hey!  Why not bring my wonderful sister into the fray?  It’s been so long!  You know, make an outing out of it?”  He chuckled, hopefully alleviating the tension in the room, it failed.</p><p>“Brother dearest.”  Roman’s eyes glanced up to look at his sister, he wished he hadn’t done that.  “We both know that I no longer follow the family legacy.  I’ve washed my hands of that for years now, especially after I became hunter.”  She paused, leaving the room in tense silence, “So why would I.”  She pointed at herself, “Help you?”  She pointed at her brother, her finger against his chest.</p><p>“Well!  It’s kind of important!  It’s the crown jewel of the previous king of Vale!  People are still doubting me, and I have to show them that the Torchwick family isn’t out yet!”  His eyes pleaded with her, he knew how much family meant to her and hoped to possibly draw her in with that.</p><p>“No.”  Nora watched as Roman’s expression failed, that was probably not what he was expecting.</p><p>“Aww!  Come on!  Please!?  For your poor little brother?  For the family!”  She watched as her mother rolled her eyes.</p><p>“Yes, I get that it’s important for the family, but it’d do you no good if I joined, I was already infamous as it was.  You’d end up having all your infamy taken by me, and I don’t need that now.  Especially after I’ve gotten Ozpin to clear my name.”  She began tapping her shoes against the ground.</p><p>The following silence was terrifying, everyone in the room felt an intense pressure on their shoulders.  </p><p>Though, that silence was finally broken, “I’ll do it!”  Everyone’s attention went to Rouge.  </p><p>“You’ll do it?”  Her mother asked, a hint of contempt in her voice, one that made Roman panic.</p><p>“Ya, I’ll do it.”  The ensuing stare down caused the room to chill, everyone shivered at the intense glares passed between the mother and daughter combo.</p><p>After what felt like an eternity Momma Jeanne relented, “Fine.”  And just like that all of the tension evaporated from the room.  “Just make sure you don’t seriously hurt anyone... “  She turned to Roman, “NO KILLING, do you hear me?”  Roman nodded in desperation.</p><p>Rouge pumped her fist, “Finally!  I was starting to think I wouldn’t find anything I wanted to try!”  </p><p>“What is it you wanted to try?”  A new voice joined the fray, Papa had arrived.  He stared at Roman, a look of pity on his face for his younger brother in law.  He walked over to the boys, placing his massive hand on Neo’s head giving her a good pat.  Nora watched as the small girl pouted but relented and smiled greeting her Step Uncle.</p><p>“Well, my dear brother here needed help with a Heist, and decided to ask for my help.”  </p><p>The only response she received was a grunt of acknowledgement.  </p><p>“And our eldest here decided to take the spot.”  </p><p>Charles didn’t say a thing, instead he eyed the room, after a minute or so he turned his attention to Neo.  “Keep them out of trouble, ya hear me?”</p><p>“Hey!”  The dual voices of Roman and Rouge responded.</p><p>The pint sized ice cream girl nodded a smile on her face as she turned to her elder cousin and adoptive father.  She pointed a finger at them in an authoritarian type manner.</p><p>“Right then, I just finished preparing the food, since everything is decided, I assume you two will be staying for dinner?”  </p><p>He received a rather enthusiastic nod from Neo, and a more subdued but no less receptive nod from Roman.  “Right then, let’s eat.”  </p><p>With that Nora watched as the others left the room, Jaune and Lie staying behind with her.</p><p>“Well… that was something.”  Jaune was the first to break the small silence.</p><p>“Tell me about it!  Big sis is going to be a big time thief!”</p><p>“I hope she doesn’t hurt anyone.”  All three of them felt a shiver down their spine, ya that was going to be something to worry about.  Well, that was for the future, now was food time!</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0014"><h2>14. Something New</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Sometimes all we need is something new.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Pyrrha’s eyes scanned her clock, soft fingers traced through soft sheets.  Time seemed all but frozen, 8:00PM, she swore that it was 8 the last time she looked.  Biting her lower lip she rose from her bed, with gentle steps she made way to her window.  “Tomorrow’s the day…”  Her pulse raced as the thought of meeting new people crossed her mind.  She’d trained so hard today, all in an attempt to ease her ragged nerves, but so far it had proven to be ineffective.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>With a click she unlocked her window, opening the glass pane.  A brush of cold air filled her lungs as she stared at the broken moon above.  Closing her eyes she began to pray.  “Please… please don’t let me be alone.  I… I just want friends.”  Gentle tears trickled from her eyes, splashing against her curled hands.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She’d been alone for so long, in her drive to be the best that she could she’d driven everyone else away.  “I just… I just want to meet someone, someone that wouldn’t care about how strong I was…”  With a sniffle she rubbed her eyes clear of tears.  Looking down below she watched as people made their way through the street, strangers passing by and greeting one another.  Friends going out to do things together, smiling and having fun with one another.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She heard rustling coming from the house next door, the one where she could simply reach over and touch the window, intrigue got the better of her as she peered into the shaded window.  The light was on, and she could see three figures, all kids playing around and having fun.  Though it looked like the smallest figure was the one doing most of the playing around.  She felt her heart drop, she should have been more normal...</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Taking another breath she made her way back towards her bed, once more she closed her eyes.  Fatigue finally overcame her as she slowly wisped off to sleep.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>Ring  Ring</b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Her eyes fluttered open, vision blurred, she began to stur.  Turning towards her alarm she noted the time, 5:00AM.  It was time for her to get ready, time for her to start something new with her life.  She wasted very little time, preparing herself she grabbed her already set uniform, an oriental styled design.  Her heart pounded in her chest as she dressed, once done she made her way downstairs, her parents already waiting for her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You look beautiful Pyrrha.”  Her mother’s words proved effective as they helped ease her anxieties.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re going to do amazing Pyrrha.  And… and I swear that you’ll meet people that’ll love you like we do.”  She felt her father’s arms wrap her into a tight hold, she hoped he was right.  Hoped that she’d end up meeting people that cared for her just for her, people that weren’t afraid of how strong she was, intimated.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Biting her lower lip again she nodded, unable to find her voice.  “Come on Dear, need to get something in that stomach of yours, you’re going to have a long day.”  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nodding she took her seat, enjoying her simple breakfast.  Her eyes glanced to the clock from time to time, it was getting closer and closer to the starting time.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Her parents had apparently noticed her unease for as soon as she stood up to take her dishes away she felt both of them wrap their arms around her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Remember Pyrrha, you’re more than just your ability to fight, you’re a wonderful and amazing woman.  You’ll find people that care for you, we promise you that.  Maybe you’ll even find a special someone.”  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Pyrrha simply nodded her head, soft sobs escaping her throat.  She really hoped so, she didn’t want to be alone.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>As the time drew closer the three of them made their way out, opting to walk instead of taking their car they let a peaceful silence fall between them.  Pyrrha was glad that the school was in Argus, it meant that she’d be able to stay with her parents instead of having to stay in the local dorm they shacked kids who lived away into.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Alright, it’s time…”  She heard the hesitance in her father’s voice.  “We love you Pyrrha.”  Both her parents pulled her into another hug, one she greatly appreciated.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’ve got this.”  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She nodded into their touch, after a few minutes they released one another.  Pyrrha bid her parents farewell as she made her way into the large building, the students gathering in the auditorium for the initial introduction.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Several people watched her as she entered, her anxiety flaring up at the judgemental glances she received.  Feeling as if she was being drowned in a sea of negative emotions she made her way to the corner of the room choosing to be by herself.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Her attention was pulled towards the door as it slammed open, “WE MADE IT IN TIME!”  A small orange haired girl screamed as she dragged two boys along with her.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Nora!  STOP STOP!”  The Blonde of the trio pulled away from the orange girls grip.  The other boy didn’t say anything, instead he silently let himself be pulled along.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sorry Jauney!”  The girl stopped her flustering, ignoring the stares of the people around her.  Pyrrha felt an ounce of envy at the pit of her stomach, how easily this girl ignored those people around her and stayed true to herself.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Intriguingly she found herself unable to take her eyes off of them, she hoped they could be friends.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>However, her world stopped, emerald met sapphires.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0015"><h2>15. Quiet Musings</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Lie's never been the best at showing his emotions, but they're there, he's learned not to bottle them up.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <b>Crunch</b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The sound of fresh snow crunching beneath one's boots always seemed to set Lie at ease.  Every step helped calm his wavering nerves.  Of the trio of Arc Siblings he always came off as calm and collected while the other two were more spirited.  Though the reality was that he was simply good at hiding his emotions, he always did his best to keep himself under control in order to control the other two.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ren!  We’re almost at Sis Saphron’s place!”  Nora’s boisterous voice drew him out of his own musings.  A small smile graced his lips as he stared at his two siblings.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I can see that Nora.”  Despite his neutral tone he was rather excited, it had been quite some time since they’d seen their second eldest sister.  While she had opted not to train like the rest of them she had given them all of her encouragement.  She played a large part in helping the rest of her siblings progress, if Lie was being honest she was his favorite Arc of the original siblings.  He’d never say that to any of his other siblings’ faces, especially Rouge’s</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nonetheless the trio followed their mother  who had taken it upon herself to bring the three of them to Argus where they’d be staying with Saphron for the school year.  The memory of the going away party still fresh in his mind, their sisters had cried and held onto them.  Their father had almost refused to let them go, stating that he’d already lost enough children as it was.  It took severe convincing from their mother to get him to lay off.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Lie couldn’t help but chuckle at the memory, catching the attention of Jaune who had stayed further back than Nora who was currently running circles around their mother.  “Remember something good?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Turning to his brother’s eyes he couldn’t help but feel calmed by Jaune’s clear sapphire eye’s.  Amongst their family his was the deepest of blues.  “Just remembered how Father was acting before we left.”  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He noted the pause in Jaune’s actions as he tried to remember the situation.  It only took a few seconds for his elder brother to begin to chuckle as well.  “Oh ya… it’s a good thing mom brought us, otherwise I don’t think we’d even make it to Argus.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Lie nodded in agreement, if their dad had brought them they probably would have gotten ‘sidetracked’.  “We’re almost there!”  Both brother’s brought their attention towards Nora as she nearly tackled the two of them to the ground.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Whoa there Nora!”  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Thankfully Jaune was as sturdy as ever and managed to hold the little ball of lightning all up on her own.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“How can you two be so calm!  Look look!”  She pointed at what they knew to be Saphron’s home, a quaint little two story building snuggled between two others.  Though Lie couldn’t help but notice the building to the right of hers, it seemed just a little fancier than the others.  Though he felt uncomfortable with how close the two buildings were to one another.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Alright kids, gather up!”  All three of them snapped to attention as they filed in behind Jeanne.  Their mother proceeded to knock onto the door, alerting the residents inside.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Soon the four of them were greeted by the warm smiling face of their elder sister.  “Mom!  Jaune, Lie, Nora!”  Saph moved swiftly grabbing the four members of her family into a tight hug, causing them to drop their luggage.  “I’m so happy to see you!”  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hello Mrs. Arc.”  Another more timid voice came from inside the house, Saphron’s girlfriend Terra Cotta stood there, unsure of how to properly greet the Arc Matriarch.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Jeanne for what it was worth simply rolled her eyes, “Sweety, you can just call me Jeanne, or Mom.”  Both Saph and Terra blushed at the implication, “You’re basically my daughter at this point anyways.  I already have eight of them, what’s a ninth?”  Jeanne chuckled to herself as Terra pulled closer, joining the hub pile.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So!  You three ready for tomorrow?”  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nora nodded furiously, her excitement apparent to anyone.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Lie himself nodded in response, “Yes, I think we have this.”  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Jaune though, he’d been less than enthusiastic, he was nervous about being away from his parents or his other sisters.  He also wasn’t sure how well he’d do, he knew he wasn’t much of a fighter.  “I… think so ya.”   </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Lie placed his hand on Jaune’s shoulder, “Everything is going to be okay Jaune.  You got this, you’re our fearless leader after all.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ya!  You’re our one and only leader Jauney!”  Nora pulled both boys into a hug of her own.  “You always come up with the best plans!  And you’re a giant wall!”  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I… thanks you two.”  Jaune couldn’t help but smile as he stared at his siblings, returning Nora’s hug.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The family filed into the house, dinner had been prepared.  It was a time to relax and catch up, and for the trio it was a time for them to relax.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nora had decided that having a pillow fight before bed was the right thing to do, so they all piled into Jaune’s room.  The night passed far quicker than Lie would have liked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The next morning they woke up late, thanks to Nora breaking Jaune’s alarm clock.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>In a rush the trio made their way to the school, getting there last apparently.  Lie did his best to ignore the looks they were receiving.  Though, what caught his attention was where Nora and Jaune were looking.  Nora had a scowl on her face while Jaune?  Jaune seemed lost in his own world.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0016"><h2>16. Heart Stopping</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Jaune lacks a lot of things, such as the ability to really talk to girls.  It's an odd thing, but somethings still grip his heart, past events are hard to wash away.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Art by the fantastic MRK50!<br/>https://twitter.com/MRK_50<br/>and commissioned by myself!  </p>
<p>I have more art coming from them soon for Arc house too~</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Jaune had experienced a lot of things in his short life, getting new siblings, having the girl he was in love with step all over his heart, having his eldest sister knock him around like a rag doll.  Each of those times had stolen his breath away, only one of those had given him a good feeling afterwards.  However, for the first time since he’d been alive, he REALLY felt his breath stolen.  HIs heartbeat slowed as the vision of the goddess or near goddess in front of him took all of his attention, his peripheral vision blurring out everything else.  “Wow…”  Truly he was a poet.  </p>
<p>
  
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
<p>Still, he found himself nearly unable to speak or move, despite the distance he felt her gazing into his soul, much like he was doing with her.  His stomach flipped, he felt butterflies swarming around his gut, his heart flipped as his breath became ragged.  He’d never experienced feelings like this before, and despite how embarrassed he was.  He still found himself unable to look away, he half expected her to do the same, but she simply watched him, watched him with an increased amount of interest.  </p>
<p> </p>
<p>She was absolutely stunning, in a lot of ways she reminded him of, “FLANNA!”  her, ya her.  Jaune’s attention snapped to Nora, who was practically fuming.  Before he could stop his exuberant sister she darted off.  </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“This appears to be bad.”  Jaune turned his attention to his brother, an exasperated look on his face.  Lie simply shrugged as he began to walk after Nora.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You!  What are you doing here?!”  Nora was practically steaming, how dare this harlot show her face here!  She thought they’d left her behind back home, but no here she was!  Though… she looked a little different, possibly going for a new look, well she’d have none of that.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I… I’m sorry?”  Pyrrha was incredibly confused, and a little scared.  She’d been watching the newcomers with piqued interest, well she’d been staring at the blonde boy possibly a little too much if she was actually being honest.  Then all of a sudden the orange girl made her way towards her, calling her Flanna?  She’d never heard that name before, how peculiar.  Right back to the girl in front of her.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You’d better be sorry!  What did I tell you about staying away from us?!”  Oh this was bad, Nora was angry, and when she was angry bad things happened.  Jaune hurried forward, Lie on following along in pace.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Nora!”  Both boys grabbed a side of their smaller sister.  “Nora!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What?!”  She struggled against the two boys, pulling them along with her.  </p>
<p> </p>
<p>If there was one thing Pyrrha understood from this strange encounter, it was that the smaller girl was strong, strong enough to drag her two male friends along with her.  She herself hadn’t realized she’d sensed the danger till she noticed that she’d already taken a defensive stance just in case an altercation happened.  She just hoped they wouldn’t bother the other students too much.  </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Nora that’s not her!”  Jaune was doing his best to calm his little sister, hopefully she’d listen to reason.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What?!  What do you mean it’s not her!  They look exactly the same!”  Thankfully Nora had stopped, her attention now fully on Jaune.  </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What?  No they don’t!  Flanna’s hair is nowhere near as gorgeous, and her eyes aren’t even close to how shining hers are!”  And like that, Jaune realized he was talking aloud, his mouth snapping shut shortly after.  </p>
<p>.</p>
<p>Nora paused, turning towards the girl she started to see it too, “Oh…”  That’s really all she could say on the matter, she hadn’t meant to scare anyone!  She just thought it was that harlot who broke Jaune’s heart, and she’d be damned if she let her or anyone else do it again!  </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Still, she wasn’t sure she could trust this newcomer, she saw the way her big brother looked at her, even more so she saw the way she looked back!  That was just asking for bad news, he’d been burned before, and again she’d be damned if she let anyone else hurt him.  “Sorry…”  It was a half hearted apology, but it was the best the girl in front of her was going to get.  Still, she silently fumed, at least till she felt Lie’s hand on her shoulder.  Turning towards her other brother she calmed down as they met eye contact.  “I’m sorry… I thought you were… someone else.”  </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I apologize on her behalf as well.”  Lie simply smiled, choosing to keep his apology for Nora on the short side.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Pyrrha simply nodded, she was feeling many things right now, confused, a little exhausted, and a little scared.  But, at the very least it didn’t seem that the orange haired girl… or Nora as they’d called her, well it didn’t seem like her anger was actually directed at her.  She was curious, but it was impolite to ask these things of people she’d just met.  “I uhm… that’s alright, apology accepted.”  She finally relaxed, lowering her guard.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Jaune took a breath, at least Nora’s little rampage had done something good.  He felt his heart calm, and a new found amount of courage entered his chest.  “I’m sorry too, please forgive us, well… I mean you already did… but still!  Uhm… sorry…”  Wow he was finding it rather hard to talk.  “Nora’s… she’s just an overprotective sister”  </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Sister?”  Oh!  She hadn’t meant to say that outloud, but the two didn’t look anything alike.  Though if she squinted she could sort of make it out.  Nora did have turquoise eyes, and the boy had, well he had the most stunning clear sapphire colored eyes, Pyrrha had never seen eyes like his before.  “I’m sorry!”  Her face flushed in embarrassment, perhaps this wasn’t something she should be asking aloud, or at all.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The trio simply chuckled in response, “It’s okay, we get that a lot.  Oh uhm… I’m Jaune, Jaune Arc.  Short, Sweet, Rolls off the tongue lad… OUCH!”  Jaune jolted up as Nora slammed her heel into his foot.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Jaune!  What did I tell you about that terrible line?!”  Nora obviously didn’t want to hear it, neither did Lie apparently, he simply rolled his eyes at his siblings antics.  </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“But!  Dad said…”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Jaune… dad’s advice isn’t meant to be taken literally.  Like, when he says all you need is confidence, he means confidence in yourself, not to fake it.  You should listen to mom’s instead.”  Lie’s words caused him to pause, right Lie was right…</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Right I’m sorry… I’m just a bit nervous.”  He didn’t really want to expand on why he was so nervous, not when the reason he was nervous was the incredibly gorgeous girl in front of him.  “I uhm… I’m Jaune Arc, third child and first son of the Arc family.”  </p>
<p> </p>
<p>As Jaune reached his hand out, Pyrrha found herself a little flustered, and a little lost.  People rarely approached her, she’d always come off as intimidating, and scary.  She couldn’t even remember the last time someone had gone out of their way to introduce themselves first.  As she took his hand she felt her heart flip in her chest.  This was a nice feeling, hopefully her parents were right, maybe she’d be able to make friends after all.  “I’m Pyrrha… Pyrrha Nikos.”  She smiled, and for the first time in a long time her smile reached all the way.  “It’s a pleasure to meet you Jaune Arc…”  She paused, “and for what it’s worth I quite like the name.”  Crimson began to spread across her cheeks as she realized she’d just flirted.  </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Crimson also began to spread across Jaune’s face, he hadn’t expected that to work, his track record with flirting was non existent, mostly cause he hadn’t bothered in a long time.  “I… thank you… Pyrrha’s also an incredibly gorgeous name.”  Oh… “I… uhm… u… I meant pretty…”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Both of them stood there, frozen as to what to do next, till Nora spoke up instead.  <b>SNAP</b>  Both statues turned towards the sound of a scroll taking a picture.  Nora stood there with a massive grin on her face.  “Heheheh~  Wait till mom sees this!”  </p>
<p> </p>
<p>If their faces had been simply crimson before, they were now an intense and dark scarlet.  </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Good job Jauney~!”  Nora was obviously happy for her brother, though she was over exaggerating at the moment, but this was nice!  Jaune never talked with other people, well people that weren’t family.  Heck, he did so less than herself or Lie!  Stuffing her scroll in her pocket she stepped forward.  “Howdy Pyrrha!  Again sorry for threatening ya like that before!  Though if you break Jauney’s heart I break your legs!”  </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I… uh… uhm….”  Pyrrha felt like she was a deer lost in the headlights.  She didn’t even know if she liked Jaune yet!  Though he was quite dashing, and appeared to be rather kind, if not a little dorky.  Though, that wasn’t a bad thing, not in the slightest.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Alright Nora that’s enough.”  Jaune had finally snapped out of his stupor.  Withdrawing his hand, regrettably, from Pyrrha’s grasp.  “UHm… right, well the short orange haired tiny person you’ve been speaking to is Nora Valkyrie Arc, my younger sister.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“OH!  Getting brave in front of your new girlfriend are you?  You’re in kneecap popping distance Jauney~!”  Though she spoke, her voice was far from threatening, more jubilant than anything else.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Jaune simply rolled his eyes, “And the silent one over here is our brother Lie Ren Arc.”  </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“It’s a pleasure to meet you Pyrrha.  I apologize for our sister’s… behavior.”  Lie simply eyed Nora who shrugged in response.  </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“It’s alright.  It is a pleasure to meet you three~”  Despite everything that happened, Pyrrha was happy!  People were talking to her, though she was curious, none of them looked even closely related but they all had the same last name and had introduced themselves as siblings.  For now she’d stow that away for later, she was just happy she’d gotten to meet new people.  </p>
<p> </p>
<p>The lights began to dim as the headmaster made his way out to introduce himself.  Jaune paid no heed to the dimming lights or the headmaster, instead he continued to watch Pyrrha.  She was really pretty… and she seemed really nice.  Though, even as his hopes grew he still heard the little bit in the back of his head.  <em> You’re going to fail, don’t bother, she’ll just leave you too~ </em>  He bit his lip as he turned his attention towards the front.  His heartbeat slowing to a near stop, right he didn’t have the best luck with these things, best not to try.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0017"><h2>17. Dislike</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Nora doesn't like people hurting her family, she doesn't like people trying to push their way in either, even if she's projecting a little.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Nora usually liked people, it was rare for her to not get along with others.  She could only really remember a few that caught her ire, however, when her ire was earned it was hard to get rid of.  </p><p>Turquoise eyes stared across towards emerald ones, ones that had recently caught the attention of her precious sapphires.  She didn’t like those yes, she didn’t like them in the slightest!  This girl, she suddenly barged into their lives, into something she had no right to barge into and decided that she’d be part of it?  She wouldn’t allow this, she wouldn’t let any of that happen.</p><p>Despite this though, she knew she was being unfair, Pyrrha wasn’t her no matter how much they looked alike.  She knew that this girl hadn’t hurt her Jauney, she knew that she wasn’t that bi… that monster who broke his heart and used him to elevate herself.  But still, still she couldn’t let it go.  She didn’t want to see her brother hurt, she didn’t want him to go through the pain that he’d been put through once more.</p><p>She would play nice for now, fist clenched she’d grit her teeth and bare with it, for now.  She wished that the orientation wasn’t as boring as it was, she wished that it would hurry up so this day could be over.  She hoped they would attend different classes, that they wouldn’t run into one another.  </p><p>So, with all her fury and anger, with all her hate she volunteered when they had asked if anyone wanted to show what they were made of.  They were giving her a chance, a chance to vent, and when they were asking for volunteers to be her opponent well Nora couldnt’ help but volunteer little miss red.  </p><p>They were given standard training gear, nothing special, she was able to find a standard metal mallet.  At least she’d have something familiar to use when she squashed that annoying girl.  She ignored the oos and awes of the crowd around her, for some reason they had given her the dumbest look when she challenged Red.  They must have thought she was crazy or something, apparently little Red was special.  She didn’t care, that wasn’t going to cut it against her, Nora’s fought special.  She’s fought a monster over and over, but this girl in front of her wasn’t Rouge, they may both have been Red’s but one of them wasn’t nearly as terrifying as the other.</p><p>She readied herself, little red had gathered a sword and shield.  Now she felt that she was just copying Jaune at this point.  Speaking of the doof, she felt her anger grow as her brother stared at the red head with awe.  Apparently the use of similar weapons really got him excited.  </p><p>She rolled her eyes, her brother should only be looking this way, not… not at that… that thief!</p><p>“FIGHT!”  </p><p>Nora wasted no time, her body crackled with lightning, she was going to finish this in one blow!  Dashing forward lightning surged around her, the sounds of well shock were snuffed out by her adrenaline.  Moving forward she slammed her hammer down, however something was off.  She missed her mark, Red moved away slightly and avoided the blow entirely.  </p><p>The ground beneath Nora splintered as sparks radiated front he base of the hammer head.  </p><p>Instinctively she moved back, the shield nearly butting her across the face.  As she did though a blade came swiping downwards to cut off her escape.  Nora let go of her hammer for just a moment, her aura flared and sparks jolted from her being.  </p><p>The red head instantly jumped backwards to avoid the current shock and awe tactic.  Once more Nora moved, grabbing the hammer again she did a horizontal swipe, trying to blow her away with a golfswing.  However, once more something was off, the hammer didn’t move as she wanted, there was some kind of resistance.  So she did what she did best, she muscled it.  Sparks ignited on the hammer as she added more force, breaking through whatever it was that was holding her back.  </p><p>However, it hadn’t been enough, the redhead dodged once more.  She was so infuriatingly slippery.  She felt a shield crash into her face, but a wicked smile bloomed.  Instead of backing away she gave the shield a good ol fashion headbutt.  Her sparks flowed through the metallic shield and the redhead backed away wincing in pain as she dropped the shield for now.</p><p>Then something happened, instead of continuing with her weapons the redhead dropped her sword too.  Opting instead to bring up her fists, so that’s how she wanted to play.  Nora felt the same actually, the hammer wasn’t going to cut it, the girl was doing something to it and she wasn’t going to make any headway whatsoever.   Nora growled as she tossed the hammer away, she didn’t miss the look of shock in the red… no Pyrrha… Pyrrha’s face.</p><p>“Right then, we’ll settle this the old fashioned way!  Try not to get pulverized princess!”  </p><p>To her surprise, the red head smiled, a huge beaming smile.  “Yes!  I agree!  And I’m not just a princess!  I’m a warrior Princess!”  </p><p>Okay… okay so Nora got a chuckle out of that one.  Dashing forward sparks flowed freely from her body.  Her hands coming down in a makeshift hammer blow, she watched as Pyrrha dove into her electrical field, this surprised her.</p><p>For her efforts though, she received a rather impressive upper cut, one that would have thrown most people off balance.  But Nora wasn’t most people, despite the heavy blow to her aura, and the constant use of her semblance she did what she did best, she used her head.  </p><p>Clenching her jaw, trying to keep her brain in place she shifted forward, and with a heavy blow she met Pyrrha’s head with her own.  A loud thunk resonated through the room as surprisingly Pyrrha did the same.</p><p>Thankfully she was outright stronger, able to push Pyrrha back, however, she was soon grabbed.  Her sleeves were pulled on as Pyrrha grabbed her bearings, pulling back and rolling over using her arched back as a pivot she sent Nora sailing through the air.  Having used her momentum from the initial attack Nora hit the ground with a loud thud.  </p><p>“Okay, that hurt…”  Getting up she turned around towards the girl, and still she had the biggest smile on her face!  What was wrong with her!  Though, if she were to look in a mirror herself she’d have her own massive smile.  </p><p> </p><p>Off to the side she missed her brothers talking.</p><p>“Lie?”</p><p>“Yes Jaune?”</p><p>“I’m scared… but also really impressed!”</p><p>“...Me too.”</p><p> </p><p>As the two boys did their own thing, the girls continued to battle.  Everytime Nora thought she’d land a solid hit, Pyrrha would slightly dodge it.  It was infuriating but fun, she was amazed that the little warrior Princess was able to dodge her blows so well.  She hadn’t expected anyone their age to keep up with her!  This was thrilling, a thrill she couldn’t get from anyone else.  </p><p>Not even when she fought Rouge, with Rouge it wasn’t about winning, it was about trying not to get splattered, but here she was on equal footing with this girl she’d just moments ago hated.  </p><p>“COME ON!  MORE MORE MORE!”  Nora was having the time of her life!  “BRING IT ON PRINCESS!”  Her fist made solid contact with Pyrrha’s gut, or at least it should have, but she felt her move with the blow again, thus dampening it.  </p><p>“Anytime!”  Pyrrha’s blow came from a jab to her jaw, one that would have disabled any normal person.  But Nora was anything but normal!  She grabbed Pyrrha and attempted to pin her to the ground, but was surprised when she was thrown again.  </p><p>This time she caught herself in a basic roll, flipping back up, though to her surprise the redhead was already upon her, her eyes glowing in sheer joy!  </p><p>Nora felt her stomach buckle as Pyrrha’s knee landed against her.  Her response was simple, once again use her head.  Once more she gave the girl a good solid headbutt, which again Pyrrha returned.</p><p>By this point both of them were getting fatigued, sweat dripped from their brows as they jumped away staring one another down.  They were able to launch at one another again when the signal was called.  </p><p>Both girls stopped centimeters away from one another, their fists already clenched.</p><p>“That’s enough!  Nora Valkyrie Arc’s Aura has dipped into the red!”  Both girls eyed the monitor, Pyrrha’s aura was only a percent higher than Nora’s, if the battle had raged even a little longer there was no telling how it could have gone.</p><p>Silence filled the room as they stared each other down.  Jaune and Lie both gave anxious looks, at least till the two girls turned towards one another.  Nora extended her hand first and Pyrrha took it.  “THAT WAS AWESOME!”  </p><p>“Indeed it was!”  </p><p>Both boys felt relief hit them as the girls suddenly beamed with glee, it looks like Nora found a new friend.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0018"><h2>18. Not So Alone</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Pyrrha really wasn't alone in this world.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Pyrrha was feeling things she’d never felt before!  Adrenaline was filling her body as she combatted the smaller but incredibly powerful opponent in Nora!  She would never have expected so much strength and sheer power to form in such a tiny package.  Though, from what she saw the girl didn’t like her very much, she didn’t know the reason, but it possibly had something to do with her big brother Jaune.</p><p>As the two parted, Pyrrha herself eyed the boy, he was quite charming if she did say so herself.  He’d gone out of his way to talk to her, though he had fallen flat on his face a few times well figuratively anyways.  </p><p>Still, it was nice, no one has ever really bothered to talk to her before.  Most of the students here were a good example of that, the moment that Nora had challenged her, she could hear their jeers, and contempt, they didn’t expect Nora to stand a chance.</p><p>But here she was, not only challenging her, not only holding her own but even pushing her back!  Pyrrha hadn’t expected to have this level of thrill, especially not on the first day.  It was like all of the morning’s anxiety had been for nothing.  It was like all those years had been nothing but a dream.  She couldn’t help but feel her heart feel good, really good for the first time in forever.  She felt so much lighter, as if there was a huge pressure that was removed from her shoulders.</p><p>Though she couldn’t see it, her smile was beaming, she was having the most fun she’d ever had.  And when Nora started to smile too?  When the girl started to verbally challenge her?  That was all the better, she really hoped they could actually be friends!  As the match came to an end, she felt her body relax, she was exhausted.  She couldn't even remember the last time someone had tired her out.  </p><p>She grimaced when she heard the results, this didn’t feel like a win, it was definitely a draw.  But those anxieties vanished the moment that Nora stretched her hand out to her, “THAT WAS AWESOME!”</p><p>Pyrrha smiled, this was nice, this was really nice.  “Indeed it was.”  </p><p>Before she could say anything else, she felt herself being pulled into a massive group hug.  Both boys had jumped on stage, pulling the two girls together.  Red dusted her cheeks as she felt herself being pulled against Jaune’s broad shoulders.  This was nice too… oh… she shouldn’t be thinking those thoughts.</p><p>“THAT WAS AMAZING!  WOW!”  That little touch of red soon bloomed into full on crimson.  </p><p>“She was awesome!  You’re going to be my training buddy from now on!”  </p><p>“It was incredibly impressive.”  </p><p>“Sniff...sniff…”  She couldn’t help it, her heart fluttered in her chest, and tears began to drip from her eyes.  </p><p>“Jaune what did you do?!”</p><p>She felt Jaune let go of her as he jumped back, “I… I’m sorry!  I didn’t… I uh!  I shouldn’t have grabbed you like that!  I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you cry!”  </p><p>Pyrrha couldn’t help herself, she felt relief hit her so hard that she’d lost control of her emotions.  “I.. no… no it’s… it’s not that… I’m just… I’m just so… so happy.”  Being congratulated wasn’t something she was used to, not anymore, only her parents cared enough.  Everyone just expected her to be amazing, this was so overwhelming.  </p><p>“I… so you don’t mind if I uh… hug you?”  She simply shook her head, that was till she felt arms wrap around her.  She was pulled into a gentle hug, a soft hand pressed against the back of her head.  “It’s okay… it’s okay… you’re not alone, you’re not alone.”  His voice was soft and low, as if he was speaking to a child, but it… it made her calm.  </p><p>“I… thank you… I… you’re really good at this.”</p><p>“Of course he is! He’s the best big brother!”  Nora didn’t miss Lie eyeing her, “Pfft you know it’s true Lie!”  </p><p>The boy simply smirked and nodded, “He really is.  Comes with the territory of having 7 younger siblings.”</p><p>“SEVEN?!”  That had thrown Pyrrha off her game.</p><p>“Well uhm, there’s actually ten of us.  Heheh…”  </p><p>“Wow…”  Pyrrha was floored by the idea, still she felt good, she felt happy and safe.  </p><p>“Can… can we be friends?”  She wasn’t sure if this was how it was done, but it was her best bet.</p><p>“Weren’t we already?”  It was Nora, the one that shocked her the most.</p><p>“We… we are?”</p><p>Jaune nodded his head, “Of course, strangers are just friends that you haven’t met yet.”  </p><p>“Ya!  And we fought!  That was thrilling, so obviously we’re best friends now!”</p><p>Pyrrha felt that things were going to be okay, she wasn’t so alone after all.</p><p>The rest of the day went by pretty uneventfully.  Though she got to see Jaune and Lie battle as well.  Apparently some people that didn’t appreciate boys getting closer to her decided they’d show her what they were made of.  To her pleasant surprise Jaune and Lie had proven to be massively impressive compared to the rest of their peers.</p><p>Some blue haired guy had decided to take Jaune on, he was impressive, used a polearm.  But he found Jaune incredibly hard to move.  The boy was like a massive wall, his weapon of choice happened to be a sword and shield, something Pyrrha felt pride in, and something else. </p><p>She watched as every attack was met with a shield, she noticed how Jaune rarely struck, instead opting to defend.  She was in awe of his shield play, he was parrying blows with such precision, he must have put a lot of practice in his defense.  To her surprise the last blow was an interesting one, the blue haired boy attempted to do a forward thrust.  </p><p>Jaune had used his shield to parry the blow and then used the flat of his sword to slam the boy's hands causing him to drop the polearm.  When he tried to reach for it Jaune kicked it back, pressing his sword against the boy’s throat forcing him to surrender.  She could see he was a little sloppy on the offense, but his defense was amazing, she wondered if he’d be willing to train with her.</p><p>Lie’s had also been interesting, a tanned girl with bleached blonde hair had been his opponent.  She was using only his fists, something Lie apparently mimicked, but the impressive part was how he’d been able to counter her.  It was like he was used to fighting someone who used fist combat.  The match ended when he channeled a bit of his aura into a strike that struck her across the chin.  The girl fell flat almost instantly, the rest of the class kept quiet and chose not to make a big deal of the three that approached Pyrrha from then on.</p><p>To her surprise, the blue haired boy and bleached blonde girl had congratulated their opponents, apparently appreciating them as the real deal.</p><p>Over all though?  Today went splendidly, she was absolutely ecstatic and happy with how everything went.  </p><p>Though the best surprise came when they walked her home, well, it was more like they all were walking towards the same place.  She stopped at her home and realized something, “You guys were the ones from last night!”  </p><p>They all looked at her quizzically and then it hit them, “Oh!  You saw us, that was Jaune’s room!”  </p><p>She felt crimson touch her face once more as she realized her room was right across from hers.  “Oh!”</p><p>“Yeah, this is our sisters house.  We’re staying with her for the next four years… you’re uhm… you’re welcome to come over whenever you’d like.”</p><p>Pyrrha smiled, nodding in response, “I… I think I’d like that.”  </p><p>Nora and Lie made their way in, but Jaune stayed a little longer, “It… it was really fun meeting you Pyrrha.”  </p><p>She nodded “It was… thank you so much…”</p><p>“I… you don’t have to… but you’re welcome.”  His smile warmed her heart.  “Well… I gotta go, you have a goodnight okay?”  </p><p>She nodded, she believed she would have a goodnight.</p><p>He waited for her to go in first, as she closed the door she let loose her contained emotions.  “YEEEEEEES!!!”  She couldn’t help but jump up and down in excitement.</p><p>“Honey?!”  </p><p>Her parents came over in surprise, “is everything okay?”  Her dad was confused at her sudden show of positive emotions.</p><p>“I MADE FRIENDS!  AND THEY’RE OUR NEIGHBORS!”  </p><p>Silence followed, until her parents ran towards her and pulled her into a tight hug.</p><p>“Sniff… I todl you sweetie, you’d find people.”  </p><p>She nodded against their hold, “Yeah, they were amazing… I’m… I’m really happy.”  She felt her emotions get the better of ehr again, tears filled her eyes once more.</p><p> </p><p>Her and her parents stayed together for a good few minutes.  That night as she was preparing to go to sleep she heard a tap at her window.  Opening the curtains she noticed Jaune, in the most adorable blue onesie she’d ever seen.  </p><p>“Hello Again.”</p><p>His smile filled her body with warmth, “Heya.”  </p><p>“Just wanted to wish you a good night again.  I can’t wait to see what happens going forward.”</p><p>She nodded in response, “I agree… thank you for being my friend Jaune.”  </p><p>He simply smiled, and scratched the back of his head, oh that was really cute.  </p><p>“No problem Pyr…”  </p><p>Oh... her face turned crimson, “Uhm, do you mind if I call you that?”</p><p>She simply shook her head, “No no!  I like it… thank you.”</p><p>That night the two would enjoy a fun conversation, one that Nora and Lie would end up interrupting, but they just brought more joy.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0019"><h2>19. New Things</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Ren's never been good at handling new things.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>How would you guys feel about a react fic, but using the cast of arc House as the viewers, sometimes throwing in canon characters?</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Lie had never been one to open up to others so easily, the Arc’s could attest as such.  So when a new girl had joined their ranks, Nora’s new bosom buddy as she called her, it had been an interesting experience.  He had nothing against the girl, but it was odd, he was so used to it always being the three of them, always Jaune, Nora and Lie.  But now?  Now it was more than that, it was Jaune, Nora, Pyrrha, and Lie. </p><p>He wasn’t sure how he felt about it, things had changed so quickly and he felt like he’d been awashed full of new emotions he wasn’t ready for.  Though, with all of that said he was happy for the other two, Nora had finally found another person she could relate too.  Her and Pyrrha were peas in a pod, except one of those peas was an eccentric and the other a girl who seemed to desire closeness.  </p><p>He wasn’t sure if it would work at first, he didn’t know if Pyrrha could handle Nora’s energy.  But he’d been proven wrong, apparently she saw it as a challenge, one she met with gusto.  And the strangest part was that she seemed to enjoy it.  The two of them were practically tied at the hip.  </p><p>Then there was Jaune, he saw how he looked at Pyrrha, his eyes full of an unknown longing.  He knew that his brother had wanted ‘companionship’.  He was the type who was amorous with his feelings, he always liked to hold those he cared about close.  And he ahd yearned to find someone to love, but well his last experience had greatly hurt him, had damaged the way he looked.  But Pyrrha was kind, gentle, she wasn’t out to use someone.  Quite the opposite, she did her best to fit in, possibly tried too hard.  But she was doing her best, and she really wanted them to be close.</p><p>Then there was him, he didn’t know how to feel.  The two of them had hardly interacted, they had barely even spoke.  He supposed part of that was his fault, he wasn’t really one to go out of his way to talk to a stranger.  Then his siblings had an idea, he knew they did, there was no way this was on accident.</p><p>They had told him, told them really, that they had to do something they’d forgotten something at school.  Pyrrha had offered to go back with them, told her not to worry about it, and that they’d catch up.  Lie knew they were liars, he knew what this was about.  So, as they left, thus began the awkward walk home, Pyrrha on his right.  </p><p>He eyed her, watched as she began to fidget, unsure of how to speak to him, he was the same though he didn’t show it.  Instead he opted to be cold and uncaring, that proved to be the wrong move.</p><p>“I… I’m sorry.”</p><p>He cocked his left eyebrow, turning his attention towards the girl to his right.  “For?”  He was genuinely confused, as far as he was aware she had done nothing to apologize for.  </p><p>“I’m sorry… I know you mustn’t like me much, I don’t mean you harm I just never really had friends and I… I’m sorry that I’m taking their time and I don’t mean to be in your way I just…”  She didn't finish, instead she stared downwards.  </p><p>His movement stopped, the crunching of snow beneath his feat coming to a halt as he turned his attention towards the crimson haired girl in front of him.  “I…”  He hadn’t been the only one with these thoughts, or at least he hadn’t really thought what she had thought… right?  </p><p>Sometimes he didn’t know his own emotions, had he been passively avoiding her, did he feel like she was stealing his time with his siblings?  Taking a moment to ponder he realized… he had been, he hadn’t done it on purpose nor had it even been an active thought.  No it had been something that he just let happen.  Biting his lip he stared downwards, that wasn’t right of him.  He thought he’d let go of these feelings, of the feeling that he was alone and needed to cling so tightly onto things.  </p><p>Sucking in air he let the cold wind invade his lungs, “I’m sorry.”  She hadn’t needed to apologize, he’d picked up on her small little ticks, he was good at that, but apparently he was bad at reading himself.  “I… I admit… I was probably jealous?”  Yes, yes he was.</p><p>“You!  You don’t need to be!  I promise, I’m not trying to…”  He silenced her placing a hand up.</p><p>“I know… it’s not you… It’s… I’m not comfortable with talking about it yet.  But, I love Nora, I love Jaune.  They mean the world to me… I’m… I’m not the best at showing my emotions, i’ve gotten better at it.  But then… then you showed up.  They grew attached to you so fast, and I felt that our little trio was broken.”  </p><p>“I didn’t mean to!”  </p><p>He simply nodded along, “I know, that’s why I’m sorry.  I’m being silly, really I am.  It’s just hard for me to accept new people.  But… but you’re right, I’ve seen the way you talk to them.  I’ve noticed the little ticks you have, like how when you speak to Jaune, you always use a cordial tone, trying to be polite.  As if you’re holding yourself back from something, or how you try your best to keep up with Nora’s energy.  It’s like you're trying hard.”</p><p>Pyrrha bit her lip, she really was trying harder than she wanted to admit.  These were her first friends, she felt like she had to, or she may lose them.  </p><p>“You don’t have to… they’re… they’re far more accepting than you think they may be.  They have big hearts, Jaune especially is willing to accept anyone if they want to give the time and effort.”  Lie smiled, “Maybe that’s what was bothering me, maybe I felt you were trying to hard, maybe I felt like you were trying to take my place.”  He shook his head as Pyrrha eyed him.  “I’m sorry… I really am.”  </p><p>Pyrrha watched as he pulled his hand up, she smiled.  “I promise I won’t be that way anymore, or at least I’ll try.  But you should relax more yourself, be more you.  They’ll accept you, I promise.”  </p><p>He watched as Pyrrha nodded quickly, practically vibrating in place.  Pyrrha took his hand and shook it, “I hope we can become friends as well.”  </p><p>Lie nodded a smile on his face, yeah he thought they probably could.  “Yeah… yeah I think we can.”</p><p>“HEEEEEY!  We said you guys could go ahead!”  The duo turned towards Nora running towards them Jaune being dragged along by his little sister.</p><p>The two couldn’t help themselves, small giggles escaping their lips.  Things would be fine after all.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0020"><h2>20. One More</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“Arc… Arc… vs Arc… and Nikos… ugh… why are there three of you?”  The combat professor scratched his head as he stared at the names on the board.  “Whatever…”  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jaune did not like where this was going, they had only been here for a few weeks but he’d seen just how good Pyrrha was.  Okay, well he could tell right away after her first fight with Nora.  He just kind of hoped they’d be together… ‘Not together together!  Just on the same team… right that’s what I meant!’  Yep he definitely didn’t think she was super darn awesome, or really pretty, or super badass or anything like that!  He also didn’t notice her well toned arms and legs when they were training, nope!  He’d never pay attention to things like that.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Of course… he couldn’t help but pass glances to her now and again, she was really awesome.  Though… he doubted he’d have a chance, and honestly he needed to concentrate on himself… right… he didn’t want a repeat of before.  Turning towards the professor he waited for the actual teams. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Ugh, whatever, boys versus girls.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Both Lie and him stopped, “Uh… sir, could we uh… could you reconsider?”  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No!  Now get your stuff and get up there!”  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Both boys turned towards one another, “Oh no.”  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Lie and him weren’t terrible by any means, heck they were in the upper half of the class!  But, well… Nora and Pyrrha were at the very top constantly competing for first place.  And there was talk about Pyrrha actually competing in the upcoming tournaments!  The trio had opted out of it, they didn’t really want the attention and honestly speaking they didn’t want to be in front of a crowd.  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hurry up!”  Both boys sighed, relenting to their future domination. That was till they were both pulled into a powerful hug.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes!  I can’t wait to fight!  It’s going to be a ton of fun!”  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jaune loved Nora, she was his wonderful sister after all.  But, well… he wasn’t sure he could agree with that last bit.  Though he didn’t really have the heart to deny her answer as she continued to squeeze the two boys together.  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Nora I think they get the point.”  Pyrrha’s gentle tone caught his ears.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Okie dokie!”  Nora let them go at the behest of her, in her own words, besty better than the resty forever!  Honestly despite his obvious… not so obvious, crush on her, he was just happy that she got along with Nora.  Like he said he loved Nora, but she had a lot of energy, a lot of energy that caused a lot of people to think she was stupid or dumb, well they always got what was coming to them.  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Still, this should be a grand fight!”  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Right right!  Grand.”  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes… Grand.”  Lie’s response was far less enthusiastic than his own.  Both boys however gave way, once they gathered their things adjourning at the arena.  The girls had already been prepared, Pyrrha had her own specially made weapon.  “It seems they’re taking us seriously.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yep… I wish they wouldn’t!”  Jaune didn’t like where this was going!  He had seriously thought about how they’d handle the dynamic duo, but every single idea and thought was always just crushed by overwhelming prowess and might.  “Well nothing left but to do it then ya?”  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Lie simply nodded, they would have to take this one step at a time after all.  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The moment they lined up with the girls the professor started the count down.  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Alright!  3...2...1… GO!”  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Hopefully this wouldn’t be too terrible.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“This is terrible…”  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>A week earlier.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Charles couldn’t believe what they’d run into, he was starting to truly and fully believe that him and his wife were harbingers of doom… or at the very least ones that came in the aftermath of great destruction.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Who would do this?  This wasn’t a grimm attack… they don’t just set fires to homes!”  Jeanne didn’t like this, not at all… they’d been on a mission when they’d seen the smoke rise into the air.  When they got to the small farm they’d found the home razed to the ground, if only they’d gotten here sooner!  She clenched her fist as the air around her began to warp, her aura flared wildly, the ground cracking beneath her feet.  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“WAAAAAAAAAH!”  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>In an instant she cooled off, “Did you hear that?!”  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes!”  Both husband and wife turned towards one another, in an instant they were off, the ground cracking beneath their feet as they made their way towards the sound. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>In an instant they found themselves in front of a Cellar, wasting no time they dug through the debris blocking their way.  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What…”  Once they’d opened the doors they’d found a young boy who appeared to be the same age as their twins.  “Oh god…”  Jeanne winced at the terrible wounds on his chest rising up to his neck.  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No… not again.  What do we do?”  Her husband’s words sunk in.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We...  we have to take him… see if he has family?  Find out who he is…”  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“P...please… help him…”  Their eyes snapped towards a younger woman.  They hadn’t noticed her before, but… but she wasn’t going to make it.  The clear indications of severe wounds present on her body, scars and gnashes… the seasoned hunters almost looked away.  “Please… he has… no one else…”  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hold on don’t ta…”  Charles stopped as he drew closer, “...She’s dead.”  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Once more they let the silence seep in, “We… we have to take him.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Her husband stood there for a moment, “Alright…”  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They would bury the woman, and they would take the young boy home with them.  The young man who they would later learn the name as Oscar Pines, the young man that would later be known as Oscar Pines Arc.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jaune had been wrong, he had been terribly terribly wrong!  This was worse than terrible!  This had gone downright ugly!  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>His legs buckled at Nora’s powerful swing, the arena beneath his feet cracked.  “SERIOUSLY?!”  He knew that these things were supposed to be made of sturdier stuff, and he knew that if he hadn’t been pumping aura into this metal sheet of a shield it would have caved right in.  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“AHAHAHAH!”  Her body was surging with dangerously high levels of electricity.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Your semblance is so unfair!”  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Says the walking living aura generator!  Now on your knees my favorite minion!”  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“NOPE NOPE NOPE!  LIE!”  In an instant Lie pulled himself away from trying to defend from Pyrrha, pumping his aura into his legs he dashed over towards his manic sister, his palm colliding with her waist sending her flying.  Unfortunately she was able to stop herself from getting ringed out by smashing her hammer into the ground beneath them.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jaune’s hand swiped past Lie as he continued after Nora, in a single burst he’d filled his brother’s Aura up once more.  WIth a burst of strength his own Aura began to refill, only to stop a Pyrrha peppered him with dust rounds.  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Really Pyrrha?!”  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Sorry!  But I can’t let you do that!”  She was ever the fighter after all, so he knew she wouldn’t just let him recharge.  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Fine!”  Putting up his shield he dashed forward, allowing the bullets to graze past it or hit less important targets, like not his head.  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Upon reaching her, he did what he did best, he attempted to ram his shield into her face.  Only for her to deftly avoid him, his shield flashed black as she attempted to nudge it away.  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ever since her fight with Nora, she’d apparently been using her semblance a lot more, taking the time to really practice with it.  Or at least that’s what she’d told them anyways.  Which was great and everything!  But it made her really frustrating to fight, so he did what he knew he could.  Pumping more aura into the shield he was able to overpower her attempt at control.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You really do have a lot of aura!”  He would have blushed at the comment if not for her shield attempting to ram him into the face.  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He didn’t have many options, he couldn’t really avoid it, he wasn’t exactly the fastest person, so once more he did what he thought he could.  “ACHA!”  With a might slam he hit her shield straight on with his empowered forehead causing her to pull back in surprise.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Jaune!?”  Her worried tone was apparently warranted as that blow nearly knocked his lights out.  Aura could do a lot of things, but when he messed up, well sometimes his brain couldn’t really handle the rumbling.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m okay!”  Straightening himself he attempted to swipe at her midsection, only for her to parry the blow using her blade.  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Good!”  In that moment he felt her aura wrap around his blade disarming him as her knee hit him straight in the gut.  Thankfully his Aura protected him, but that hadn’t been her goal.  In the moment that he instinctively buckled over she’d applied her aura instantly onto his shield and pushed him straight out of the ring.  “Sorry!”  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>To his surprise Lie had already been there waiting for him.  “Did she golf swing you?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“She golf swung me…”  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Nikos and Arc win!”  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The boys could hear the cheering from the crowd, their own egos slightly wounded as no one really had expected them to win, not even themselves!  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But, well that didn’t matter in the end, “YOU GUYS DID AMAZING!”  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Pink and Sapphire eyes glanced upwards, meeting emerald and turquoise.  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“She’s right you know.  You had gotten our aura’s rather low.”  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Both boys turned towards the monitor at the same time, they’d managed to get both Pyrrha and Nora down to about 60 percent.  That may have seemed like nothing, but well, when most people couldn’t drop them even a single percent?  It wasn’t a bad thing.  “Huh!  Hey look at that, we got you guys down another 2 percent this time.”  A part of him did want to have a little snark though.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That we did.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah!  You guys are improving!”  Nora pulled everyone into a tight hug, her arms wrapped affectionately around her family, Pyrrha included.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I agree you’re both improving at a remarkable rate.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Neither of the boys could really deny it, while it felt bad to lose, well… well at least they knew they were getting better and that wasn’t a bad thing.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Alright… well how bout… we go get cleaned up and then we can go to Saph’s house.  We could have a sleep over?”  He turned towards Pyrrha, “If you can come of course!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh!  Yes, my parents should be fine with it.  They quite like your sister.”  Pyrrha’s warm smile caused his chest to feel oddly pained.  Right, gotta concentrate on getting better.  </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Pyrrha parted ways with them wanting to get ready and prepared for the oncoming sleepover.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Once they’d gotten home after getting ready, they’d noticed extra sounds coming from the living room.  “Saph?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“MY BABIES!”  In an instant the three Arc siblings were pulled into one powerful hug.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“MOM!”  Nora was the only one to return the powerful hug meeting one with equal strength.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hey kids… we got something to tell you.”  As their mom dropped them they eyed a small figure behind them.  “Meet Oscar… Oscar Pine Arc, he’s your new little brother.”</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0021"><h2>21. Preparations</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hey Ya'll!  I'm still alive, I promise!  I've just been busy, I had some vacation time where I wanted to write but well it happened to be during that entire snow storm debacle!  Either way, I promise I"m still here, working on this, Arc House, and a new thing!  Two new things... right yeah that.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Despite her rather muted nature she couldn’t help the giggles that escaped her throat as she entered her house.  This of course had the effect of drawing odd looks from her parents, of whom she failed to notice.  “Pyrrha?”  And now her face was burning a deep crimson.  Pulling her loose hair in front of her she did her best to hide her new shame.  Peeking her emerald eyes from her crimson strands she found both of her parents staring at her.  Quizzical looks placed upon their faces as they simply smiled in her direction.  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh uhm…”  She was at a loss for words, then it occurred to her!  She’d agreed to the sleepover without actually asking her parents first.  Her already red face had somehow become even redder, if that was even humanly possible.  Her parents were probably going to say yes, but she couldn’t help but wilt under their gazes.  She didn’t know how to ask this, she’d never had to ask it before.  Having friends was something new to her and well, she hadn’t even gone ‘out’ with them yet.  She’d been over to their house, but that was only for a few hours at most.  But now she was asking her parents if she could spend the night, spend the night at a boy’s home… at Jaune’s home.  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Her mother apparently caught the self doubts in her daughter.  “Are you alright sweety?”  Her eyes glanced upwards, emerald catching onto emerald.  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I uhm… yes.  I just have a question…”  Both her parents glanced at one another, neither of the two saying anything.  She ALMOST missed the small smiles on their faces, she felt herself freeze once more at the odd gesture.  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When Pyrrha didn’t continue her statement, her dad chose to speak up instead.  “You’re not asking for dating advice are you?  I like Jaune, but I’m not sure if you’re ready to start dating dear.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Wh..wah?!  Date Jaune?!”  Pyrrha swore that she could feel her brain short circuiting, she swore that she could smell iron and burning circuitry.  She swore she could feel smoke coming out of her ears as she quickly pressed her hands in front of her face, her long crimson hair flopped over covering her vision even further. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hahahah!  I’m joking sweety…”  Though, the tone in his voice seemed to be telling another story all together.  “Though… if you’re going to date him, please at least wait a bit longer.  Like I said I like the boy, and I think you’re cute together.  But, I really don’t think either of you are ready just yet.”  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Seeing her daughter currently sinking, Pyrrha’s mom decided to chip in.  “That’s enough darling.  I think she’s had enough teasing… but really though.  It’s easy to see you like the boy.  Just take things at your own pace.”  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Pyrrha wanted to deny it, wanted to say she didn’t.  But… well Jaune was really sweet, and possibly the person she liked most out of the sibling trio.  Still… </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Right, well you had a question for us did you not?”  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Ye...yes!  Uhm.”  Oh gosh she was at a loss for words again, the moment her parents decided to embarrass her was the moment her thoughts were forced out of her head.  Now with everything in disarray she decided to take a moment.  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Honey, breath.”  Her father’s words helped calm her, always the man of patience.  She took the time to really relax, this was important, possibly the most important moment of her life!</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Sucking in some air, she turned back to her parents, clearing her hair from her face.  “May I please stay at the Arc’s tonight?  I was invited to a slumber party.”  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“So you want to sleep with Jaune?”  Her father took one more snipe at her, and once again she swore that she was smelling burning metal.  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Dear that’s enough!”  Despite her mother’s intervention, Pyrrha didn’t quite believe that they were on the same side as she was giggling wildly.  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Fine fine… but again…”  Pyrrha fumed once more, her dad really did like Jaune.  Even if the first time the two of them met, he’d stared down the poor boy for what seemed like an hour.  Eventually he found that he quite liked his more docile nature, and how he seemed to gravitate towards Pyrrha in a rather protective way.  When the two of them talked, it had surprised Pyrrha and her parents, that he had 8 sisters, and 1 brother.  So he was big on the family thing, which was evident by the way he always stood in front of Nora and Ren.  It was a small gesture, and one could easily miss it.  But he always acted on the defensive, as a just in case, even if in his own words that he was the weakest of the trio.  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Right, I think that’s fine.”  Her mom answered, turning to her dad who simply nodded.  “Do you need help packing, or do you think you’ll be able to get everything you need on your own?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Pyrrha paused, she wasn’t sure, what exactly did she need for a sleepover?  Extra clothing, her pajamas, toothbrush maybe?  Did she need to bring a gift?  Anything special?  What room were they going to sleep in?  Were they going to hate her because she had no idea what she was doing?  Were they going to laugh at her?  She shook her head at the last part, there was no way they’d laugh at her.  But the thought of having them hate her for not knowing what a sleepover was all about was a serious concern.  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Honey… honey…”  Her mother called out to her, snapping her attention back towards her.  “You're over thinking things again.  I’ll help you pack alright?”  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Pyrrha nodded, “Yes please.”  This didn’t have to be as hard as she was making it.  She knew that everything would be alright, but she couldn’t help but feel as if there was something… odd or rather something was going to happen.  Still, she didn’t want to overthink things, at least not yet.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When her mother followed her up the stairs and into her room she caught a glance out of the window.  She could make out Jaune’s figure as he hurriedly ran around, probably preparing things.  Though… there was something else there, something she could feel.  A sense of trepidation, she paled hoping she wasn’t the cause of that.  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Biting her lip she began to gather a bit of clothing, though her mother’s words caught her offguard once more.  “You do like him don’t you?”  Once more Pyrrha froze, though… this time it wasn’t because she’d locked up.  The question hit her, and she knew her mom wasn’t joking this time.  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I uhm… I’m not sure.”  This was her honest answer, she wasn’t sure WHAT she should be feeling.  Jaune, also Ren and Nora, were a huge part of her life now.  She didn’t have friends before, and then they came in and took her by storm.  She loved hanging out with Ren and Nora, but there was something sweet and gentle about being with Jaune.  He was always attentive of her, and she couldn’t pretend that he didn’t stutter or cast small glances in her direction from time to time.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Though… there were times when he had this odd look of sorrow, one that she didn’t or couldn’t understand.  It was as  if he was looking at someone else instead of her.  Still… he… he made her stomach tumble from time to time.  His clear blue eyes had this astonishing power to draw her in.  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That’s alright.  You take your time with that okay?  You’re dad and I are just playing around.  But… it’s really up to you to decide.  Though, if you do find out you like him, I don't think you’ll have to worry about him turning you down.”  And now she was back to being red-faced, and just when she thought everything had calmed down too.  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I… I know…”  She really did, but she knew there was something else to it.  For now though, she was content with things as they were.  If, and maybe when, they finally decided to push things forward then well she’d see.  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Alright, looks like we got everything.”  It had taken them only a few minutes to get everything together.  But now that they had, she began to feel the jitters.  This was her first time staying away from home, and she… this was a new feeling!  Pyrrha was a lot of things, and unfortunately, an anxious pre-teen girl was one of those things.  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She bit her lip as she stared back into her room, “Uhm, maybe I’m missing something?”  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Thankfully, her mother knew what to do, she always did.  Pyrrha’s demeanor softened when she felt gentle arms wrap around her.  “Pyrrha, it’s alright sweety.  Everything is going to be fine.  They already like you for who you are.  You don't have to worry about anything?  And we’re always right here.  Just a few steps away.”  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Pyrrha nodded into her mothers touch, she felt her heart calm as she decided to make her way over.  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The pleasantries were nice enough, when she got downstairs she made sure to give both her parents long strong hugs.  They had offered to take her over, but she didn’t need them too.  They’d already met Saphron before, and they liked her.  So this wasn’t going to be a problem, besides there was thankfully still light out.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>As she made her way out of her house she took a deep long breath, steeling herself for her first real outing.  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Once she reached the door she brought her finger up to the doorbell.  Pressing her finger against it she waited for the melody to finish.  What followed was seconds of crippling silence, she felt as if her world was about to spill over when all of a sudden the door opened.  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>To her surprise it wasn’t Saphron, or Jaune, Ren, Nora.  It was a lady, one who looked an awful lot like Saphron.  Except she was taller, and Pyrrha could feel it right from the start, incredibly strong.  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh?  And who might you be?”  It didn’t take long for Pyrrha to figure out who was in front of her.  It was their mother, and just like that she froze once more.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0022"><h2>22. A New Arrival</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Lie's never had a little brother before, but at least they have one more person helping him and Jaune from being too outnumbered.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>So I'm alive!  I promise I actually have a lot of things coming up soon!  Still working on Arc House, and plan to have another chapter of Lil JNPR this weekend!  I'm also working on another fic that currently has two chapters.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“This is your younger brother, Oscar Pine Arc.”  All three of them gaped for a moment as they stared at the young boy who was hiding behind their mothers leg.  He had chocolate like skin similar to Terra.  His eyes were a dark color as well as his hair.  He was obviously afraid and unsure of himself or his new environment.  Though as Lie inspected the younger boy, he did have to wonder where his other sisters were.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Lie had expected a lot of things when their parents showed up.  What he hadn’t expected was for them to get another sibling.  He knew that things were hard as it was, the Arc’s were a HUGE family.  Some of them, namely Rouge and Saphron had moved out already, but that was still eight kids in one house hold.  He always felt guilty about it, but they’d always told him not to worry.  It was his job to grow up strong and mighty, that all they wanted was to give him and Nora all of their love.  So again, he was more than a little shocked when he found out they’d be having a little brother.  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>There was only really one thing on his mind however, and apparently Jaune shared it with him.  As both boys turned to look at each other, their thoughts aligned.  ‘Oh thank the gods!’  They finally had another brother!  It was no longer 2v8, now it was 3v8 and that meant the world to them.  Though he tried to keep his excitement down, he found himself feeling oddly giddy as he stared down the small brown boy in front of him.  He could see the trepidation in his eyes, obviously worried he may not get along with his new siblings.  But when Jaune, lovable brother Jaune, gave him a warm smile he could see the younger boy… Oscar.  Oscar began to move forward on his own.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Before he could get closer though, Nora struck.  In her Nora like fashion she grabbed the little boy, pulled him into the air and trapped him in a vice like hug.  “OH MY GOD HE’S SO CUTE!”  Lie could practically feel the excitement that was just oozing off his sister.  Jaune on his end was attempting to stifle his chuckle as Nora bounced up and down with the little Oscar in hand.  “I can’t wait to dress you up just like Lie and Jauney!”  Lie felt a chill run down his spine, apparently Jaune did the same thing as his eyes shot open.  Neither of them missed the way Saphron smiled in the back.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Lie didn’t like where that was going, “Dress up?”  Oscar was obviously confused, but as he turned towards the two boys Lie could only give him a look of sympathy.  One that seemed to cause him to whimper slightly.  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Though Lie had many questions, turning towards their mother he took a moment.  “Mother, did something happen?”  He watched his father flinch slightly, as his mother turned towards his father.  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes darling.  Just like… with you and Nora.”  Understanding dawned on him, as well as his other siblings as Nora only held Oscar tighter.  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I see…”  Lie turned towards Oscar who was currently struggling for air.  “Nora, I think he’s having trouble breathing.”  His sister stared back at the younger boy and suddenly let him go causing him to stumble as his feet hit the ground. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Whoopsie!”  She sheepishly rubbed the back of her head, something Lie had realized they were all doing now.  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>However, in the next moment he was upon Oscar as well.  His arms wrapped around the younger boy as he pulled him in a gentle hug.  Now that he was closer he noticed just how red his eyes were, and how puffy the skin around them was.  “It’s okay, it’s okay.  You’ll be fine here.”  Lie felt Nora’s strong arms wrap around them, and finally Jaune’s as well.  He couldn’t read Oscar’s mind but when the younger boy pressed his head into his chest and began to sniffle, he knew that they’d have to be there for him.  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He felt his heart swell as more arms began to wrap around him till he was certain that both his parents and Saphron had all joined in on the hug.  He really loved this family, and he knew that they may have not been his birth family but they WERE his family for sure.  He wouldn’t trade them for the world, his thoughts remained secure even as his own tears began to drip from his eyes.  He pressed his head into Oscar’s face as they all began to hold together.  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>They would have stayed like this for a bit longer if not for the sudden knock at the door.  That was when Jaune of all people stood stiff.  His face suddenly became really red, “I wonder who that could be?~”  It was Saph who asked that question.  Apparently she’d noticed Jaune’s little outburst.  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hmm?”  Their mother caught onto the sudden shift.  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Seems a lot of things are going to happen at once.”  Nora mumbled to herself as she refused to let go of Lie and Oscar.  Lie could honestly agree as he watched Jaune panic from the corner of his eye.  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah… but everything’s good, we have our family, and Oscar?”  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hmm?”  The younger boy pulled back to peak up to him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re part of our family now.”  Lie held a smile, he knew that things would be hard, but as the Arc’s had been welcoming of him and Nora.  He would as well, they’d make sure that life for Oscar improved from now on.  They wouldn't ask any questions, they wouldn't force anything.  But they would be there for the younger boy.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>However, Lie couldn’t help but feel a sense of giddyness as Jaune tried to answer the door before their mother did.  However, Saph was not on his side holding down her younger brother as their mother made their way to their door.  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The next thing any of them heard was a loud gasp followed by, “Oh my god you’re adorable!”  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hahahahaha!”  Nora couldn’t help but giggle to herself as Jaune struggled.  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Dang it Saph!”  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Who might you be?”  Their mother asked the invisible figure, not like any of them had any trouble realizing who it was.  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Uhm, my name is Pyrrha, Pyrrha Nikos.”  </span>
</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0023"><h2>23. Feelings</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Jaune Arc was currently incredibly absolutely totally embarrassed.  He could only watch in shock and horror as his mother was currently gushing over his perfect, wonderful, amazing, splendid, stunning, fantastic friend.  Quite possibly his best friend if he was being honest.  Of course Lie and Nora were his best friends too!  But they were family.  Pyrrha though?  She was something else.  She brought forth a side of him he could never really understand.  Sure he sometimes felt inferior but honestly that wasn’t really a her thing, and he swore he was getting better at it.  Even if he did feel like he was lagging behind all of his family.  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Right he was getting off topic, anyways, as he said horror absolute and utter horror.  His mother was currently grilling Pyrrha for all the details of their current lives.  “Oh my goodness!  You’re absolutely gorgeous!”  He watched as Pyrrha’s alabaster skin tinged pink as his mother picked her up pulling the younger girl into a grizzly like hug.  Jaune felt so many emotions in his chest, one of them had been a surprisingly large amount of sudden relief.  Good his mother liked her, that… that was important he felt.  But then there were so many more emotions!  He hadn’t expected any of this, and even with Pyrrha’s arrival he couldn’t help but eye Oscar.  The poor boy, his heart hurt just thinking of what he must have gone through.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Just like with Nora and Lie, he felt an overwhelming amount of brotherly feelings.  Just thinking that there was another child who lost their family, ‘I need to be stronger’.  He couldn’t help but think to himself, think that he had to help anyone he could.  Snapping out of his daze he watched as his mother was practically strangling Pyrrha.  “Uhm ma.”  There was no answer as she continued to hug the young girl, “Ma!”  He practically shouted at her, causing her to snap out of her child like glee.  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh woopsie!  I’m sorry dearie, I just adore children.”  Understatement of the century, Jaune thought to himself as he heard the footsteps of his other sisters off in the distance.  “Well then, why don’t you all introduce her to me?”  Jaune took center, he didn’t want to give Nora the chance to embarrass him.  He could see the mischievous glee, though he knew that she only had his best interest in heart.  But… but he didn’t want her to do anything till he was sure that he himself felt that way about Pyrrha.  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Uhm, she’s Pyrrha, Pyrrha Nikos.  She goes to school with us.”  He took a step next to her, one that he knew his mother noticed.  “She’s also our best friend.”  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“She’s Jaune’s bestest friend though.”  Nora said in a matter of factly kind of way.  He knew she didn’t mean any harm, but he saw the way his mother’s eyes shined.  “Oh oh!”  Nora suddenly pounced on Pyrrha, “But she’s my battle sister!”  Jaune eyed his sister and his… his crush yeah.  He could see the curves of her lips tilt upwards.  He loved Nora, she really did know how to bring out the brightest of the room.  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>When Nora let Pyrrha go, his mother made a humming sound.  As Lie took his place near them she couldn’t help but smile.  “I’m glad you all are doing well.”  She took a breath, “I assume that you’re here to spend the night?”  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Pyrrha nodded meekly, “Yes ma’am, Jaune invited me over.”  It was obvious his friend worried about making a good impression.  But when she said his name, Jaune just knew that his mother was going to look at him.  And look at him she did.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, did he really now?”  The smile on her face told him everything he needed to know.  And, well, he nodded.  When her smile shifted to a warmer one he felt his heart calm down.  “Well it’s a pleasure to meet you deary.”  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thank you.”  Pyrrha gave his mother a nice bow.  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Once everything had finished, Jaune didn’t miss the looks he was getting from his other sisters who were peaking around the corners.  It was painfully obvious to everyone else, even if he didn’t quite get it yet.  No, he was just fooling himself, Pyrrha was amazing and well… his heart beat rapidly whenever they were close.  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why don’t you all go up stairs and enjoy yourselves?”  Nora who was practically bouncing up and down on her heels turned towards Oscar.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Would you like to join us Oscar?”  Her brilliant smile was nearly blinding, and as her older brother Jaune didn’t feel like he was being biased whatsoever.  The young boy seemed hesitant, but Nora just had a way with kids.  She approached him slowly and smiled warmly, allowing him to let his guard down.  “We’d love to get to know you more.”  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jaune could see how much she saw her and Lie in him.  Jaune only nodded approvingly, he would also like to get to know their newest little brother.  Though, as they were about to head up, he felt his mother’s hand touch his shoulder.  “Uhm, you guys can go ahead, I’ll catch up.”  Nora and Lie got the hint, heading up first followed by Oscar who decided to join them after all.  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Pyrrha on the other hand watched him worriedly, he simply gave her a warm smile.  Once she seemed satisfied she followed after the trio, dragging her bag alongside her.  Though he didn’t miss the few times that she glanced back at him.  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ahem.”  His mother cleared her throat, this was the signal for everyone else to vacate the room.  Which they did, no one crossed their mother.  Jaune turned towards her, their eyes met and he felt a warmth travel across him.  “She is a very pretty girl.”  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He nearly gasped for air, but he knew that this was where the conversation was going to head to.  Still… it didn’t stop him from being anxious, “She… she is.”  He felt his heart thump loudly, his ears beating like drums.  His pulse grew fast as he continued to keep his eyes deadlocked with his mothers.  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do you like her?”  And there it was, the question he was dreading.  He just… he wasn’t sure.  He… he wasn’t good at these kinds of things.  Especially with someone as amazing as Pyrrha.  He didn’t deserve… no that wasn’t the right word.  That was… it was stupid thinking right?  At least that’s what he tried to tell himself.  He felt inferior.  Not just to her mind you, but to everyone.  Memories of his past… no Pyrrha wasn’t like her.  She wasn’t like Flanna, she could never be like her. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I… I’m not…”  He heard the tapping of her foot on the wooden floor.  She wasn’t going to take half truths.  “I don’t know… I’m just… mom…”  His lip quivered and his throat grew dry.  He just, he did, he did like Pyrrha.  But he wasn’t… he couldn’t, would she even be happy with him?  He knew, he really did that it didn’t matter if he was worthy or not.  That was stupid thinking!  It was stupid thinking, and he was an idiot.  “I… would she even…”  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He stiffened as she pressed her palm against his shoulder.  Her hand tightened around him, “Oh sweetie.  You’re amazing, and I’m not saying that just cause you’re my son.”  His gaze drifted downwards as he shifted awkwardly.  “Honey, I’ve never met anyone who puts half the effort you do into improving yourself.  If you make a mistake you try to correct it, I know… that things hadn’t been easy for you.  Especially with… that incident.  But darling.”  She pulled him into a tight hug.  “You’ll never know if you don’t try to ask.”  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She was right, she really was.  “If you don’t ask, you could miss out on something amazing.  And if you do, and it doesn’t work out?  You could always remain friends.  I know it’s scary, gods know that I panicked when asking out your father.”  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>His head snapped back to her, his eyebrow cocking slightly.  “Yes I was the one to ask him, bloody hell, he would never have summed up the courage to ask me.”  A mirthful chuckle escaped her lips as she continued to hold him close.  “Sweetie, I think you’ll be fine.  I’m a good judge of character, and I can see that she’s different.”  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jaune felt his breath hitch in his chest as he wrapped his arms around his mothers back, his fingers dug into her clothing as he held her tightly.  He was scared, he really was.  But… but Pyrrha wouldn’t mock him, she wouldn’t toy with his feelings.  He… he didn’t need to be worthy of anything other than her own affection.  And if she didn’t see him that way, then it was simply not meant to be.  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He turned his head down one more time and nodded, “Okay.”  Looking back at his mom he felt her hold him close once more.  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Good luck son.”  Her warm and motherly voice filled him with confidence.  He knew it was odd to get dating advice from his mother, but she has had a long marriage as well as a ton of kids.  If his parents’ relationship was still going well then she must have known something.  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Every step he made up to their shared room was daunting, each step felt closer to his execution.  He could practically feel his heart throbbing in his chest.  Finally he reached the door, his legs locked in place as he felt his breathing become heavy.  He could feel his palms grow sweaty, he couldn’t do this.  He just couldn't. There was no way this would wo-  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>His entire world fell to a halt as the door opened before he could even knock.  “Oh hello!”  Pyrrha was in front of him with her hair untied, he’d only ever seen it in a ponytail.  He felt his heart stop and his breathing stilled.  Apparently she noticed the shift in his disposition, “Jaune, are you alright?”  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh uhm!”  He felt the words caught at the edge of his lips.  His tongue twisted as he tried to gather his courage.  Then he caught Nora out of the corner of his eye.  She was smiling brightly, her thumbs lifted up as if to encourage him.  Lie was doing something similar, a soft smile on his face while Oscar sat there confused.  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Pyrrha?”  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes Jaune?”  The way she tilted her head slightly to the right sent little jolts of joy to his heart.  Oh gosh, he really was going to do this!  He needed to calm himself down, but even as his heart pounded loudly in the middle of his chest, thumping over and over.  He still couldn’t help but feel a sense of joy and excitement.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Can I uhm. Ouch!”  He bit his tongue slightly.  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Are you okay?!”  The panic in his voice was oddly endearing.  Placing his hand in front of him he nodded.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, I’m fine… I’m sorry I just… can we talk alone?”  The following silence was agonizing, the way she examined hima s if trying to get a beat on what he was asking.  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Finally she nodded.  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He heard a loud whoop coming from the room as she closed the door behind him.  He needed a good place to ask, taking a slow step he made his way towards the guest room.  The soft thumps of Pyrrha’s steps behind him sent powerful jolts through his mind.  His panic was reaching an all time high as his blood pulsed and beat rapidly in his veins.  He was terrified, but there was now ay that he wasn’t going to do this.  He had to resolve himself, he couldn’t chicken out now.  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Finally they reached the room, opening it so she could go in first he made sure no one was following him.  Thankfully after a few seconds of inspection he didn’t see any of his siblings.  Taking one last deep breath before entering after her, he closed the door.  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Pyrrha?”  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes Jaune?”  Oh gosh, she was just so amazing.  Even a simple question caused his heart to thump wildly.  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Pyrrha, we’ve been friends for a few months now, and uhm… you’re… you’re honestly amazing.”  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh!”  Even he could catch the blush off of her porcelain like skin.  His own face grew warm as he tried to calm himself.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Right, uhm… Pyrrha I…”  Oh god he was getting tongue tied, he felt his eyes flutter as his pulse grew out of control.  He was starting to shake and break out into a cold sweat.  He couldn’t… he couldn’t…</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Jaune?”  He felt a hand wrap around his, his eyes drew upwards catching her gorgeous emeralds.  “Jaune, I’m… I’m not sure what’s going on.”  He didn’t believe that, “But… but… no matter what.  I’m here for you okay?”  Her grip around his hand tightened.  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Right he didn’t need to worry.  “Pyrrha I like you.”  He hadn’t meant for it to come out so… so naturally?  But it had, there was no doubt in his mind that he felt for her, or what he felt for her. “I like you a lot, not in the same way I like Nora or Lie…  I… I really like you.”  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He expected an awkward silence, what he got was him suddenly being pulled into a tight and bone crunching hug.  Air left his lungs as she wrapped her arms around his waist and pulled him close.   “Sniff~”  There was a soft sniffle coming from her as she pressed her head into the crick of his neck.  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Py-Pyrrha?”   Had he done something wrong?!</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I was so worried!”  Her grip tightened around him as she tightened them closer.  “I was so worried you didn’t feel the same.”  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“O...oh!”  OH!  She… she felt the same… she felt the same!  He didn’t, he couldn’t… he wasn’t able to think.  Instead he did all he could think of, his own arms reached around her back pulling her close to one another.  The two of them held one another close for a near 30 minutes, neither wanting to part.  He had placed his own head against hers, delight and joy filled his heart.  And for the first time for as long as he could remember, he felt quite alright.  No, he was better than alright.  He was absolutely happy, ecstatic, joyous even!  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m so happy…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He wasn’t sure which one of them said it, but it didn’t matter.  Everything felt… it felt like everything would be alright.</span>
</p>
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